ORK 


Report  of  Proceedings  of 
a  Conference  at  the  N.Y. 
Produce  Exchange.  1910 


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1CULTURE  DEP& 


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KEPOKT  OF  PROCEEDINGS 

OF 

A  CONFERENCE 

(OF  VAKIOUS  INTERESTS) 

Held  April  27th,   1910 

At  the 

New  York  Produce  Exchange 

f 

For  the  purpose  of  formu- 
lating a  definite  plan  of 
action  for  the  improvement 
of  agricultural  conditions  in 
the  State  of  New  York. 


ite 


JULIUS  MOLE 


New  YOJ 


DEFT. 


New  York,  April  27th,  1910. 

A  CONFERENCE  of  those  interested  in  the  improvement 
of  agricultural  conditions  of  New  York  State  was 
held  this  day  on  the  Exchange  Floor  of  the  New 
York  Produce  Exchange,  City  of  New  York,  [pur- 
suant to  the  following  call : 

"  Improvement  of  Agricultural    Conditions 
of  New  York  State. " 


CALL    FOR    CONFERENCE. 

NEW  YORK,  April  19,  1910. 

MY  DEAR  SIR: 

There  is  a  widespread  desire  among  the  citizens  of  the  State, 
without  regard  to  party  or  political  creed,  to  assist  the  constituted 
officials  in  their  efforts  to  increase  the  productivity  of  our  farming 
lands. 

A  most  serious  cause  of  the  diminishing  supply  of  food  stuffs, 
in  proportion  to  the  increasing  demand,  is  the  scarcity  of  intelligent 
farm  labor. 

It  is  conceded  that  desirable  immigration  in  the  person  of  thrifty 
agriculturists  would  be  a  blessing  to  the  State  in  helping  to  develop 
and  increase  its  agricultural  output. 

The  idea  has  the  hearty  support  of  all  the  commercial  bodies  of 
the  State,  the  officials  of  the  Commonwealth  directly  interested  in  this 
subject,  the  cordial  co-operation  of  our  entire  Congressional  delegation, 
and  the  full  approval  of  Secretary  Wilson,  of  the  U.  S.  Department  of 
Agriculture,  and  Secretary  Nagel,  of  the  Department  of  Commerce 
and  Labor. 


491488 


To  the  end  that  some  definite  plan  of  action  may  be  devel- 
oped, it  has  been  decided  to  call  an  inform il  conference  of  all  those 
interested,  to  be  held  in  the  Board  Room  of  the  Produce  Exchange, 
Broadway  and  Beaver  Street,  New  York  City.  3  P.  M.,  Wednesday, 
April  27,  1910. 

At  this  meeting  it  is  proposed  to  discuss  the  subject  informally, 
and  to  attempt  the  formation  of  some  permanent  organization  for 
carrying  out  such  plans  as  this  conference  may  develop. 

We  are  assured  of  the  presence  of  the  New  York  State  Agricul- 
tural officials,  the  New  York  State  Congressional  delegation,  and  also 
Secretary  Wilson  and  Secretary  Nagel. 

The  invitation  is  extended  to  all  individuals,  associations  and  cor- 
porations interested.  On  the  part  of  organizations  it  is  especially 
requested  that  they  send  representatives,  so  that  an  expression  of  the 
sentiment  of  their  body  may  be  obtained,  and  incorporated  into  definite 
action. 

Will  you  please  consider  this  as  intended  for  any  of  your  associates 
interested  in  this  movement,  and  extend  it  also  to  them. 

We  trust  the  call  meets  with  your  hearty  approval,  and  we  hope 
for  your  earnest  co-operation. 

Will  you  kindly  communicate  at  once  with  Mr.  Welding  Ring, 
President  of  the  New  York  Produce  Exchange,  Broadway  and  Beaver 
Street,  New  York  City,  saying  whom  we  may  expect  from  your  locality 
or  organization. 

Respectfully, 

Welding  Ring,  President    New    York    Produce    Exchange, 

W.  C    Brown,  President   New   York   Central   Lines. 

John  W.  Dwight,  Member  of  Congress,  Thirtieth  District. 

F.  M.  Godfrey,  .  Master  New  York  State  Grange. 

W.  C.  Barry,  President  Western   New   York  Horticultural    Society. 

William   McCarroll,    President  New  Yoik  Board  of  Trade  and  Transport- 
ation. 

George  Dietrich,          President  Rochester  Chamber  of  Commerce. 
George  A.   Frisbie,     President  Utica  Chamber  of  Commerce." 

The  following  signified  their  intention  of  attending  the  conference, 
and  practically  all  of  them  were  present: 
W.  C.  Brown,  President  New  York  Central  Lines. 
Hon.  James   Wilson,   Secretary  of  Agriculture,  Washington,  D.  C. 

2 


Hon.  Chas.  Nagel,  Secretary  of  Commerce  &  Labor,  Washington,  D.  C. 
(Represented    by    Assistant    Secretary    Cable.) 

E.  G.  Miner,  of  the  Pfaudler  Co.,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

Hon.  John  W.  Dwight, 

Hon.  Chas.  L.  Knapp, 

Hon.  Chas.   S.  Millington, 

Hon.  M.  E.  Driscoll, 

Hon.  Jas.  A.  Simmons, 

Hon.   Cyrus   Durey, 

Hon.  Geo.  W.  Fairchild,  Congressmen  from  New  York  State. 

Hon.  Geo.  R.  Malby, 
Hon.   Wm.   H.   Draper, 
Hon.  E.  B.  Vreeland, 
Hon.  Thos.  W.  Bradley, 
Hon.  J.  Sloat  Fassett, 

Hon.   R.   A.    Pearson,   Commissioner   Dep't  of  Agriculture,   State  of   N.  Y. 
R.  R.  Riddell,  Chief  of  Office,  of  Farm  Statistics,  do  do 

Chas.  W.  L'armon,  Chief  of  Office  of  Farm  Labor,  do  do 

B.  D.  Caldwell,  Vice  President  Delaware,  Lackawanna  &  Western  Railroad  Co. 

F.  M.  Godfrey,  Master  of  New  York  State  Grange,  Olean,  N.  Y. 
W.  N.  Giles,  Secretary  of  New  York  State  Grange,  Olean,  N.  Y. 
Hon.  Victor  M.  Allen,  State  Senator  from  Troy,  N.  Y. 

Hon.   M.    Linn   Bruce, 

Jas.   G.   Cannon,   Vice   President   Fourth  National  Bank,  New  York. 

•Geo.   T.   Powell,    President  Agricultural  Experts'  Ass'n,  New  York. 

Chas.  H.  Plump,  Tieasurer  Agricultural  Experts'  Ass'n.,  New  York. 

John  G.  Lipman,  N.  J.  Soil  Chemist,  N.    J.    Agricultural    College    Experiment 

Station,  New  Brunswick,  N.  J. 

Director  Webber,  of   College  of  Agriculture,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 
W.  H.  Jordan,  N.  Y.  Agricultural  Experiment  Station,  Geneva,  N.  Y. 

Hon.  Wm.  McCarroll,  President,         ")  ^ 

•UT      £   ri  •  (Board    of    Trade    and    Transportation, 

G.  Waldo   Smith,  }  New  York' 

John  Mitchell,  )  x 

R   W    Easley  >•  National    Civic   Federation. 

B.   H.   Gitchell,    Secretary,  ^ 

Chas.  T.  Logan,  VBinghamton  Chamber  of  Commerce 

Chas.   H.   Moore,  ) 

Geo.   S.   Boudinot,   Secretary  National  Association  of  Manufacturers. 

Jas.  L.  Ewell,  Sec'y  of  Merchant  Marine    Committee,    National    Association    of 

Manufacturers. 

John  E.  Kraft,  Master  of  Ulster  County  Pomona  Grange. 
J.  D.  Frederickson,  Pres't  N.  Y.  State  Dairymen's  Ass'n,  Little  Falls,  N.  Y. 
Augustin    Denniston,    Pres't   Orange   County    Agricultural    Society,    Washing- 

tonville,  N.  Y. 
E.  A.  Crowe,  Northport  Farmers'  Club,  Northport,  L.  I. 


E.  V.   Titus,   Long   Island   Farmers'   Club,  Glen  Cove,  L.  I. 
H.  E.  Cook,  Canton,  N.  Y.,  School  of  Agriculture  and  Northern  New  York  De- 
velopment League. 

Farmers'  CIub'  Quaker  Hill>  N'  Y- 

W.  C.  Barry,  President  Western  New  York    Horticultural    Society. 

Mrs.   Henry  Parsons,   President  of  the  Children's  School  Farm  League. 

Henry   Griscom   Parsons,   o.f   the   Children's   School   Farm  League. 

Bolton  Hall,  New  York  Vacant  Lot  Gardening  Association. 

Frank   C.   Herrick,   Albany   Chamber   of  Commerce. 

James    E.    Stille,    Gloversville    Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Geo.   W.   Sisson,  Jr.,  President  New   York  State  Breeders'  Ass'n. 

H.    S.    Manning,    Middleburg    Industrial   Association. 

A.  J.  D.  Wedemeyer,  Pres't.  Liberty  Farm  &  Gardening  Club,  Liberty,  N.  Y. 

Wm.  J.  Thompson,  Mgr.  "The  Metropolitan  &  Rural  Home." 

Francis  B.  Mitchell,  Prop'r.  'Tost  &  Express,"  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

Geo.  E.  Thayer,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

T.  E.  Martin,  Manager  Experimental  Farms,  N.  Y.  Central  Railroad. 

Woodworth      Clum,      Industrial    Commissioner,  B.  R.  &  P.  Railroad. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  H.  B.  Fullerton,  of  Agricultural  Development  Bureau  of  Long 
Island  Railroad  Co. 

Luis  Jackson,   Industrial   Commissioner,  Erie  Railroad  Co. 

Frank  Sullivan  Smith,  Receiver  of  the  Pittsburg,  Shawmr.t  &  Northern  Rail- 
road Co. 

Claude  D.  Morris,  of  Borden's  Condensed  Milk  Co. 

Joseph    Francolini,    Acting    President)          Labor  Information  Office 
G.  E.  di  Palma  Castiglione,  Mgr.          f  for    Italians. 

H.  L.  Reed,  Amsterdam,  N.  Y. 
W.  W.  Dimmock, 
Silas  Alden  Condict. 

Many  other  guests  were  present  whose  names  were  not  recorded. 
The  officials  and  a  large  number  of  the  members  of  the  Exchange 
were  also  present. 

Communications  were  received  from  many  citizens  of  the  State 
actively  interested  in  the  subject  of  the  conference,  who  expressed 
themselves  as  heartily  in  accord  with  the  movement,  but  were  unable 
to  attend  the  meeting. 

By  reason  of  the  unexpectedly  large  attendance  the  Board  Room 
was  too  small  to  accommodate  the  guests  and  members,  and  it  was 
found  necessary  to  throw  open  the  commodious  "Floor"  of  the  Ex- 
change for  their  use. 

MR.  WELDING  RING,  President  of  the  New  York  Produce  Exchange, 
acting  as  Temporary  Chairman,  called  the  meeting  to  order,  and 


MR.  E.  G.  MINER  moved  the  nomination  of  MR.  FRANCIS  P.  MITCHELL, 
of  the  Rochester  'Tost  &  Express,"  as  Secretary.    The  motion 
having  been  duly  seconded  and  carried, 
MR.  FRANCIS  P.  MITCHELL  was  declared  elected  Secretary. 
MR.  MINER  then  moved,  That  the  Temporary  Officers  be  made  the 
Permanent  Officers  of  the  meeting;  which  was  duly  seconded 
and  carried,  and  the  Temporary  Officers  were  declared  elected 
as  Permanent  Officers  of  the  meeting. 

THE  CHAIRMAN  (Mr.  Ring)  then  addressed  the  meeting  as  follows: 
"Ladies,  gentlemen,  members  of  our  Exchange,  and  all  who  are 
gathered  here  to-day,  I  want  to  welcome  you  on  behalf  of  the  New 
York  Produce  Exchange,  and  express  our  appreciation  of  your 
coming  here  to  be  with  us.  We  have  some  very  eminent 
speakers  who  will  no  doubt  interest  you  greatly,  and  I  shall 
therefore  not  claim  your  attention  for  myself.  I  was  a  farmer  when 
I  was  a  boy,  but  I  grew  out  of  it.  I  would  like  to  grow  back  into  it, 
I  am  sure.  I  think  we  are  all  farmers,  today  at  least.  We  all  have 
the  farmers'  interests  at  heart,  and  I  believe  the  movement  we  intend 
to  start  to-day  will  result  in  great  good  to  our  agricultural  sections, 
and  of  course,  in  turn  to  the  other  interests  of  our  State.  What  we 
want  to  do  is  to  make  the  farms  attractive;  make  them  so  that  the 
young  men  will  remain  on  the  farms  and  not  come  to  the  city  to 
such  great  extent  as  at  present;  make  them  attractive  so  the  young 
men  from  the  cities  will  go  to  the  farms.  If  we  can  demonstrate 
to  them  that  there  are  opportunities  for  progress  and  advancement 
as  great  on  the  farms  as  in  the  cities,  I  am  sure  we  can  get  them 
there.  You  all  know  that  we  are  a  great  State,  nearly  eight  millions 
in  population,  and  yet  I  am  told — and  I  believe  it  to  be  so — that  there 
are  only  225,000  farmers  in  this  State  at  the  present  time;  and  they 
are  the  ones  that  are  feeding  the  rest  of  us.  Now,  we  want  a  larger 
element  in  the  country. 

"The  gentlemen  who  are  with  us  to-day  will  speak  to  you  on  vari- 
ous topics,  and  I  am  sure  they  will  all  be  very  interesting.  I  know  you 
will  all  give  your  close  attention.  This  room  is  not  a  very  good  one 
for  acoustic  properties,  and  it  will  be  necessary  to  be  as  quiet  as 
possible.  I  ask  those  in  attendance  if  they  will  keep  that  in  mind. 

"Our  first  speaker  to-day  will  be  a  gentleman  who  I  am  sure  is 
very  highly  revered  throughout  these  entire  United  States.  I  believe 
him  to  be  the  greatest  farmer  there  is  in  the  country;  and  that  means 
the  greatest  farmer  there  is  in  the  world.  There  is  no  man  that  has 
taken  a  greater  interest  in  this  subject  than  the  one  who  will  first 


address  you.  He  has  it  thoroughly  at  heart.  He  knows  it  all,  and 
he  is  with  us  to  tell  us  how  to  do  it,  and  honors  us  by  being  here. 

"It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  introduce  to  you  Secretary  Wilson. 
of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  of  the  United  States." 

(Prolonged  and  vigorous  applause.) 

HON.  JAMES  WILSON,  Secretary  of  Agriculture,  then  addressed  the 
meeting  as  follows : 

"Ladies  and  gentlemen:  I  came  to  New  York  with  a  great 
deal  of  hesitation.  Naturally,  everybody  who  comes  here  has  that 
feeling.  We  do  not  see  how  we  can  give  the  people  of  this  place 
any  information  on  any  subject. 

"You  have  heard  incidentally  with  regard  to  conservation  in  late 
years ;  something  with  regard  to  conservation  of  woods,  water  powers, 
etc.  In  this  day,  when  conditions  are  different  from  those  with  which 
you  have  been  familiar  in  the  past,  I  came  to  speak  for  a  few  moments 
with  regard  to  the  conservation  of  the  soil.  . 

"Singularly  enough,  history  tells  us  nothing  about  the  soil  from 
which  we  have  drawn  our  sustenance,  and  now  when  we  have  ques- 
tions with  which  you  are  all  familiar  with  regard  to  the  cost  of 
living,  and  all  that,  I  regard  the  discussion  of  the  soil  from  which 
we  draw  our  food  as  a  prime  necessity,  and  have  prepared  some 
brief  remarks  on  that  topic. 

"I  have  been  in  the  habit  of  speaking  now  and  again  during 
my  lifetime  to  small  audiences  here  and  there,  but  I  have  never  before 
spoken  in  a  room  as  big  as  an  acre  lot. 

"The  cost  of  living  calls  for  careful  inquiry  into  the  causes  that 
have  operated  to  bring  about  conditions  that  are  new  to  us  as  a 
people.  We  have  had  great  abundance  of  food  at  prices  that  were 
lower  than  most  other  countries  enjoyed;  particularly  those  countries 
with  which  we  compete  in  commerce  and  manufacturing.  Compen- 
sation for  skill  and  labor  has  been  comparatively  high  in  our  country, 
but  increased  cost  of  living  has  become  a  disturbing  factor  that  cannot 
be  adjusted  at  present  to  the  satisfaction  of  those  concerned.  There 
are  many  factors  that  enter  into  this  inquiry. 

"It  costs  more  to  get  anything  done  in  our  country  than  in  most 
others.  Until  within  recent  years  new  land  was  abundant  and  to  be 
had  for  the  asking.  Railways  pushed  ahead  of  the  homesteader,  the 
reaper  came,  and  bread  and  meat  were  cheap.  The  farmers,  com- 
pared with  other  workers,  had  low  wages.  The  education  of  the 
schools  had  done  nothing  for  him,  while  much  was  done  for  other 

6 


industries.  There  was  no  seeming  necessity  for  educating  farmers 
for  their  life-work ;  food  was  cheap  enough  and  good  enough.  A 
change  has  come.  Production  does  not  increase  as  fast  as  popula- 
tion. Prices  go  up;  it  costs  more  to  pay  carriers,  dealers,  manufac- 
turers, all  classes.  The  farmer  gets  big  prices  now,  but  it  costs  him 
twice  as  much  to  grow  things  as  it  did  ten  years  ago.  The  fact  the 
population  increases  faster  than  food  sets  us  thinking.  We  cannot 
afford  to  buy  food  from  foreign  countries.  The  balances  of  trade 
for  goods  bought  and  sold  since  the  Civil  War,  independent  of  farm 
products,  have  been  heavily  against  us  during  that  time,  and  have 
been  paid  by  exports  from  the  farm. 

"If  the  factory  and  the  shop  are  to  sell  abroad  to  square  accounts 
without  a  farm  surplus,  they  must  produce  cheap  enough  to  compete 
with  shop  and  factory  abroad.  It  will  be  a  new  day  when  we  have 
to  do  that,  if  ever,  and  we  shall  have  new  subjects  to  talk  about 
unheard  of  in  our  land.  Some  farseeing  men  say  this  condition  is 
not  far  distant.  I  have  not  yet  given  up  hope  of  preventing  it.  The 
major  part  of  our  people  in  the  East  are  being  fed  from  the  Mis- 
sissippi Valley,  and  the  States  of  the  South  draw  much  from  the 
same  source.  I  am  well  satisfied  that  the  soils  of  that  valley  are 
being  subjected  gradually  to  the  same  unwise  treatment  that  so  seri- 
ously reduced  the  soils  east  of  the  Alleghenies  and  south  of  the  Ohio 
River. 

"For  the  last  half  century  the  young  people  of  the  farms  have 
been  educated  to  leave  them.  No  teacher  until  recently  taught  a 
scholar  to  make  more  of  his  day's  work  on  the  farm,  nor  how  to 
make  the  acre  respond  better — and  for  a  very  good1  reason.  The 
teacher  had  never  learned  himself.  Education  flows  downward  from 
the  university  regarding  everything  but  agriculture.  If  applied  science 
along  this  line  is  not  understood  at  the  fountainhead  there  will  be  no 
stream  at  which  to  drink.  The  necessity  of  educating  the  farmer  is  im- 
pressed upon  our  people  and  steps  are  being  taken  in  all  our  States 
and  Territories  to  this  end.  Sciences  are  being  applied  and  research 
made  into  causes  and  results.  Education  is  being  extended  into  pri- 
mary schools  in  the  principal  States.  Federal  and  State  governments 
are  spending  money  freely  for  this  purpose  and  students  are  multi- 
plying. The  results  of  research  are  being  printed,  and  the  literature 
of  the  farm  is  growing.  The  Department  of  Agriculture  sent  out 
to  the  people  18,000,000  pieces  of  printed  matter  last  year  relating 
to  the  farm  and  the  home. 


"The  States  east  of  the  Alleghenies  are  foremost  in  commerce, 
manufacturing,  arts  and  sciences,  wealth  and  influence.  They  have 
overlooked  agriculture,  permitting  their  soils  to  deteriorate  and  reach- 
ing out  to  the  West  for  food  products.  The  soil  robber  began  his 
baleful  practices  there,  and  has  gone  westward  until  the  light  rainfall 
regions  refused  to  yield  profitably.  The  deterioration  of  Eastern  soils 
would  have  been  prevented  long  ago  had  there  been  no  cheap  rich 
soils  in  the  Mississippi,  or  had  demand  been  closer  up  to  supply.  The 
cheap  food  from  the  West  discouraged  soil  improvement  in  the  East. 
Young  people  on  the  Eastern  farms  saw  more  prospect  of  success 
in  the  West  on  new  land  that  cost  nothing  than  in  struggling  with 
lighter  soils  in  the  East.  The  homestead  law  revolutionized  farming 
in  the  East  and  South.  The  full  settlement  of  the  humid  lands  of 
the  West  has  brought  a  new  day  with  new  problems;  people  want 
land,  people  want  food.  Western  lands  are  dearer  and  have  gone 
beyond  the  reach  of  poor  people.  The  lands  of  the  East  and  South 
are  reduced  in  productive  power,  but  they  are  cheap,  they  are  con- 
venient to  good  markets ;  they  can  be  improved,  and  they  will  be, 
but  the  method  by  which  a  farm  is  improved  is  quite  different  from 
that  by  which  it  was  reduced.  Ignorance  permitted  the  soil  to  become 
unproductive;  the  highest  intelligence  is  required  to  bring  back  fer- 
tility. The  Nation  grows  in  wealth,  but  very  little  of  it  has  lodged 
with  the  owner  of  the  poor  farm;  consequently,  the  first  considera- 
tion is  the  introduction  of  capital  when  reduced  soils  are  to  be  im- 
proved. Generally  speaking,  our  farms  are  managed  with  too  little 
capital  or  the  farm. is  too  large  for  the  means  of  the  operator.  Help 
is  dearer  than  #  has  been,  and  it  is  scarce  in  all  sections  of  the  country. 
Higher  prices  for  farm  products  will  justify  more  pay  to  the  farmhand 
and  have  a  tendency  to  keep  workers  on  the  farm. 

"When  Eastern  men  of  all  classes  realize  that  future  prosperity 
depends  on  the  rejuvenation  of  soils,  it  will  soon  be  done.  Eastern 
soils  are  well  adapted  to  fruit  culture,  and  no  part  of  the  world,  either 
here  or  abroad,  ever  has  enough  fruit  at  prices  that  will  justify  free 
use  among  all  the  people. 

The  Eastern  manufacturer  never  has  had  occasion  to  inquire 
into  the  economy  of  crop  production.  Until  within  a  few  years  food 
has  been  abundant  and  cheap.  It  is  abundant  and  cheap  no  longer. 
The  cheap  food  of  the  past  has  been  one  of  the  advantages  the  manu- 
facturer has  had.  He  has  it  no  longer.  Neglect  of  the  soil  will  very 
soon  impress  itself  upon  all  classes.  Importation  of  food  will  bring 
about  a  change  in  our  economies,  a  revolution  'in  our  policies,  which 

8 


may  be  avoided  by  better  farming  and  a  comprehensive  view  of  the 
situation  by  those  who  deal  in  big  things,  whether  carrying  commerce, 
manufacturing,  or  finance.  If  the  America  we  know  to-day  is  to 
continue  with  its  opportunities  for  all  classes,  high  prices  for  skill 
and  labor,  home  ownership  for  every  industrious  man,  education  for 
every  child,  and  easily  acquired  competence  for  every  frugal,  indus- 
trious family,  we  must  look  to  the  soil  and  its  power  of  production. 
Other  nations  prosper  by  commerce  and  manufacturing,  but  their 
working  classes  are  not  as  comfortable  as  ours. 

"Our  people  are  not  grouped  to  advantage.  Too  many  grew 
crops  during  the  last  half  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Farming  was 
a  poor  business  during  that  period,  and  did  not  invite  people.  The 
abundance  of  meats  arid  grains  and  the  low  prices  for  them  gave  little 
encouragement  for  the  young  farmer  to  devote  his  life  to  agriculture. 
He  sought  other  occupations,  and  generally  prospered,  as  the  industry 
and  strict  economy  necessary  to  living  on  the  farm  had  prepared 
him  for  success  in  other  vocations  where  life  is  less  strenuous. 

"People  make  an  ado  about  eight  or  ten  hours  a  day.  Farmers 
who  prospered  in  the  past  worked  sixteen  hours  a  day.  I  have  done 
it  myself,  day  after  day,  year  after  year. 

"The  farm  went  to  the  renter  and  poverty,  because  the  renter 
rarely  had  the  capital  to  maintain  conditions  that  would  keep  up  fer- 
tility, which  includes  pastures,  grazing  and  fattening  animals,  legumes, 
rotations,  care  of  and  use  of  fertilizers,  purchases  of  mill  feed,  drain- 
ing, machinery  and  periodicals  for  mental  growth.  The  renter  grew 
grain  to  sell,  hay  to  sell;  anything  to  sell.  He  had  a  short  lease 
and  no  inducement  to  improve.  Whoever  rents  land  to  be  handled 
this  way  abandons  his  farm  then  and  there.  It  becomes  poorer  every 
year,  until  it  ceases  to  yield  profitably. 

"There  are  owners  who  manage  as  the  average  renter  manages 
and  some  owners  sink  below  the  renter,  as  they  are  too  shiftless  to 
leave  the  farm  and  do  other  work.  There  are  many  good  farms  in 
all  the  older  States,  but  they  do  not  teach  by  precept  or  demonstra- 
tion, and  their  wisdom  dies  with  them.  This  class  of  farmers  keeps 
up  fertility.  They  are  they  whom  we  employ  in  the  Southern  States 
to  direct  and  advise  in  our  demonstration  work. 

"Every  State  should  organize  to  conserve  the  fertility  of  its  soils. 
The  Department  of  Agriculture  would  gladly  co-operate  with  all  of 
them.  This  Department  has  corps  of  scientists  that  could  be  made 
useful  in  this  regard.  There  is  no  kind  of  conservation  that  com- 
pares at  all  in  importance  with  soil  conservation,  while  all  are  im- 
•^ 

9 


portant.  We  are  late  in  beginning;  but  high  prices  are  impelling 
and  insistent  from  every  standpoint. 

"Some  political  economists  tell  us  that  boys  leave  the  farm  be- 
cause the  land  values  are  so  high ;  but  land  values  east  of  the  Alle- 
ghenies  have  gone  down  because  the  boys  left  the  farms  and  renters 
without  capital  got  possession  to  grow  grain  and  hay  for  sale. 

"Let  me  call  your  attention  to  some  work  that  the  Department 
is  doing  that  we  can  commend  to  the  Eastern  States.  The  boll  weevil 
came  to  the  South.  The  growing  of  cotton  is  an  exceedingly  interest- 
ing industry — a  necessary  one,  especially,  to  the  South,  and  not  only 
to  them,  but  to  the  whole  country.  Congress  intervened  to  produce 
cotton  in  defiance  of  the  boll  weevil  or  to  help  those-  people  grow 
crops  in  place  of  cotton  where  the  boll  weevil  could  not  be  subdued. 
We  organized  the  whole  Southern  country  south  of  the  Ohio  River — 
all  those  Southern  States.  We  have  had  four  hundred  men — Southern 
men — good  farmers,  in  that  country,  who  are  teaching  by  demonstra- 
tion their  neighbors  who  are  not  good  farmers.  We  are  working 
under  the  authority  of  Congress.  We  conducted  last  year  30,000 
demonstrations  on  30,000  Southern  farms.  (Applause).  That  is  a 
hint  for  you,  good,  people.  Get  30,000  demonstrations  on  30,000  farms 
up  here,  and  you  will  strike  twelve  very  quickly  with  regard  to  the 
products  in  these  grand  States  east  of  the  Allegheny  Mountains  and 
west  of  Cape  Cod. 

"We  got  12,500  boys  under  sixteen  years  old  each  to  grow  an 
acre  of  corn.  The  object  was  to  reach  the  father  through  the  child, 
and  we  reached  them.  Their  fathers  never  grew  as  much  corn.  Some 
of  these  boys  grew  160  bushels  of  corn  to  the  acre.  Next  year  we 
will  have  about  three  times  that  number  growing  each  an  acre  of 
corn.  It  might  be  humorous  to  know  what  we  did  with  the  boy  who 
grew  the  most  corn.  It  would  be  laughable  if  I  told  you.  The  boy 
who  grew  the  most  corn  in  his  own  State  was  promised  privately 
by  our  instructors  down  there  a  free  trip  to  the  City  of  Washington 
to  see  the  President  of  the  United  States,  the  Capitol,  and  those 
great  Congressmen  and  Legislators.  The  humorous  thing  is  that  I 
gave  each  of  those  boys  a  diploma.  They  sold  the  corn — those  four 
boys — for  enough  to  put  them  through  an  agricultural  college.  Their 
fathers  never  grew  as  much  corn. in  their  history. 

"Now  then,  corn  is  dear — is  dear  now.  The  next  step  we  built 
on  top  of  that  was  to  issue  a  bulletin  telling  them  how  to  grow 
hogs,  so  that  they  would  be  independent  of  the  Northwest  with  regard 
to  their  meat,  and  they  are  at  that  now. 

10 


"Beef  is  too  dear;  far  too  dear.  There  is  something  serious 
about  it.  There  is  no  use  talking  about  living  on  potatoes  and  cab- 
bages. The  man  who  eats  meat  rules  the  world,  and  our  people  have 
got  to  have  beef. 

"Well,  Congress  gave  us  money  to  make  a  beginning.     Then 
the  field  cattle  tick  appeared.     It  takes  two  hundred  pounds  of  blood 
a  season  from  its  host,  and  that  host  does  not  prosper — does  not  do 
much  good.    And  so  the  beef  industry  in  the  South  is  not  in  a  flourish- 
ing condition.     For  the  last  three  years  we  have  been  exterminating 
that  pest  over  50,000  square  miles  of  the  Southern  States,  and  that 
makes    something   like    150,000   miles   now   where   people   can   grow 
cattle  just   as  you  grow   them  up  here.     We   sent  North  and  got 
specimens  down  there  to  improve  the  breed.     And  more  than  that. 
The  richest  fertilizer  known  to  man  is  the  cotton-seed  meal,  which 
comes  from  the  cotton  plant.     It  has  been  sold  to  the  North,  and 
it  has  been  sold  all  over  the  world.     People  in  European  countries 
buy  their  millfeed  from  the  United  States,  and  all  the  cotton  seed 
meal  they  can  get.    They  buy  the  stuff  and  ship  it.    There  is  no  better 
fertilizer  than  that  manure  pile  from  these  rich  mill  feeds.     I  looked 
it  up  and  found  that  Denmark  made  butter  and  sold  it  to  the  British 
people — in  one  year  $35,000,000  worth  of  butter.    And  we  sold  them 
the  millfeed  from  which  to  make  the  butter.     We  real  Americans — 
we  all  are — have  been  putting  in  our  time  on  the  farm  growing  cow- 
feed  for  the  Danes.    That  is  what  we  have  been  doing.    That  is  why 
our  soils  are  going  down.    There  are  a  great  many  reasons,  but  that 
is  one  of  them.     Now  then  we  will  eventually  clean  up  that  cattle 
feed  and  go  on  growing  beef,  growing  cattle,  feeding  for  steers.    They 
will  find  their  way  here.     Everything  finds  its  way  here.     I  even 
found  my  way  down  to  see  Bowling  Green  for  the  first  time  myself. 
"The  railroad  men  are  not  only  anxious  to  aid  in  this  work, 
but  they  help — they  contribute.    All  the  Congressmen  are  the  leaders 
in  their  districts.     They  arrange  to  have  meetings  held  in  those  dis- 
tricts to  discuss  all  the  interests  of  the  farmers.     They  get  scientists 
from  wherever  they  can  find  them  and  we  send  all  we  can  spare  to 
discuss  these  subjects.     The  lawyers  of  the  South  are  in  favor  of 
the  rejuvenation  of  the  South,  and  the  dealers  in  produce  and  mer- 
chandise are  the  same. 

"Ladies  and  gentlemen  of  the  section  of  country  between  Cape 
Cod  and  the  Allegheny  Mountains,  the  way  to  bring  back  the  soils 
of  that  section,  to  rejuvinate  fertility,  is  to  organize  every  class  of 
society  here  and  have  them  direct  it.  Whatever  intelligent  and  en- 

11 


terprising  New  York  wants  to  do  it  does,  and  nothing  can  stop  it. 
(Applause). 

"If  you  are  tired  of  these  great,  big  prices,  if  you  are  interested 
in  manufacture  and  cannot  produce  as  cheaply  as  you  did  when  you 
got  food  cheaper  and  your  employees  are  demanding  bigger  wages 
every  six  months,  turn  your  attention  to  the  soil  of  this  country. 
These  soils  can  all  be  made  productive  and  you  can  do  it.  You  do  not 
need  to  go  outside.  There  is  intelligence  enough,  knowledge  enough 
here  within  this  State — good  farmers  enough  who  know  how,  but 
are  not  teaching  it. 

"Now,  with  regard  to  food,  it  is  a  very,  very  serious  question. 
Possibly  2,000,000  are  being  added  to  the  population  every  year. 
The  soils  are  not  producing  less  every  year ;  they  are  producing  more, 
but  we  are  calling  upon  virgin  soil  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  for  fresh 
crops.  The  Government  is  turning  money  into  the  reclamation  of 
some  of  the  arid  lands  of  the  West,  and  it  will  be  done,  and  people 
will  settle  on  these  lands;  and  they  will  grow  crops.  All  that  will 
come  about  soon. 

"We  are  losing  people  to  Canada,  that  is  true;  but  we  always 
robbed  Canada.  While  they  got  60,000  people  from  us  last  year, 
mostly  from  the  two  or  three  Western  States,  who  took  $60,000,000 
across  the  border  with  them,  we  got  over  50,000  from  them.  So 
that  the  balance  is  not  so  heavy  as  you  might  suppose.  And  the 
Canadian  has  always  been  an  admirable  citizen,  always  desirable. 

"Now,  we  are  doing  something  to  create  new  industries.  Some- 
thing. We  begun  by  encouraging  the  making  of  sugar  from  beets 
some  years  ago,  and  this  year  570,000  tons  of  sugar  was  made  from 
the  beet;  and  as  soon  as  the  dams  are  all  completed  and  the  water 
let  out  on  those  dry  lands  of  the  West  under  reclamation  projects 
more  and  more  sugar  will  be  made  from  the  beet  every  year,  because 
it  is  a  ready  money  crop,  and  the  pioneer  always  needs  ready  money. 
570,000  tons  is  a  great  deal  of  sugar;  figure  up  what  the  United 
States  needs  and  what  is  made  under  the  flag,  and  you  will  find  we 
are  producing  one-half  of  the  sugar  consumed  in  the  United  States. 
Just  as  sure  as  it  is  producing  one-half  it  will  be  possible  to  produce 
the  other  half  and  save  all  that  money. 

"Now,  sugar  takes  nothing  from  the  soil.  The  soil  to-day  is  my 
subject.  Atmosphere  makes  sugar,  and  there  is  plenty  of  fresh  air 
in  the  United  States  yet  to  make  all  the  sugar  we  need.  It  takes 
nothing  from  the  soil;  why  not  make  it  here.  We  have  a  sweet 

12 


tooth;  everybody  has.  We  want  sugar  and  we  want  sweet-meats; 
why  not  grow  it  at  home. 

"We  have  done  something  else.  We  have  a  region  west  of  the 
looth  meridian  of  west  longitude  where  it  is  dry.  It  rains  around 
ten  inches  a  year.  We  looked  over  the  whole  world  and  found  crops 
— around  the  deserts  of  the  Old  World — and  last  year  produced  60,- 
000,000  bushels  of  wheat  out  there,  the  richest  in  protein  grown  in 
America.  The  time  is  coming  when  the  great  city  of  New  York 
will  be  fed  from  wheat  grown  out  on  the  desert;  and  you  will  not 
know  it,  except  that  it  is  a  little  better  wheat  than  that  you  have 
had  before.  The  miller  will  not  admit  that,  because  the  wheat  is 
more  difficult  to  grind.  A  few  years  ago  we  imported  heavily  of  rice 
from  the  Orient,  and  now  we  produce  what  is  about  the  equivalent 
of  the  consumption  of  the  country.  It  is  the  same  in  all  lines.  The 
Federal  Government,  through  the  wisdom  of  Congress,  is  getting  this 
work  done.  They  never  hesitate.  I  have  never  had  a  bit  of  fault 
found  with  me  for  spending  too  much,  but  was  roundly  scolded  in 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States  for  not  asking  for  more  money.  The 
only  trouble  with  me  is  that  I  am  too  stingy.  I  am  going  to  take  the 
hint  and  ask  a  little  more  the  next  time.  We  are  at  work  ascertaining 
how  to  grow  crops  on  the  arid  lands  where  we  cannot  get  water; 
and  are  having  some  measure  of  success.  I  cannot  say  much  about 
it,  because  we  have  only  recently  begun,  but  we  have  some  thirteen 
stations  with  three  or  four  scientists  located  at  each  station,  study- 
ing what  crops  will  do  best  under  these  dry  conditions  and  what 
method  of  cultivation  will  be  best  adapted.  So  that  everything  is 
being  done  by  the  encouragement  of  Congress  that  can  be  done. 

"We  have  agricultural  colleges  in  the  State,  most  of  which  are 
applying  themselves  to  the  great  problems.  I  am  satisfied  that  your 
institution  here — your  two  institutions — are  doing  decidedly  better 
work  than  they  did  when  I  first  became  acquainted  with  them.  But 
that  is  a  matter  between  yourselves.  I  am  speaking  generally  of  the 
soils.  That  is  the  source  from  which  we  get  our  foods.  Ever  since 
the  Civil  War  the  balance  of  trade  between  us  and  foreign  countries 
for  goods  bought  by  us  outside  of  farm  goods  has  been  heavily  against 
us;  but  the  farm  came  in  and  paid  off  the  bill  and  made  a  heavy! 
balance  in  favor  of  the  United  States.  Every  year  we  are  sending 
less  and  less  from  the  farm  to  foreign  countries  because  of  the  demand 
at  home.  That  is  what  we  are  doing  now.  When  the  day  comes, 
if  ever,  I  hope,  we  may  be  able  by  united  effort  all  along  the  line 
to  prevent  that  day  coming,  but  if  the  day  comes  when  we  are  not 

13 


able  to  export  anything  and  everything  is  imported  from  foreign 
countries,  all  the  money  spent  by  our  tourists  abroad,  all  the  money 
we  pay  the  ship-owners  for  taking  our  goods  abroad,  the  interest 
on  obligations  to  foreigners,  all  that  has  to  be  paid  from  other  sources 
than  the  farm,  our  people  will  have  new  problems  to  consider,  let 
me  assure  you — new  troubles  to  consider.  I  do  not  intend  to  meddle 
with  or  touch  on  politics  here  at  all.  I  am  discussing  the  soil. 

"The  best  wish  I  have  is  that  these  great  people  of  this  city 
shall  turn  their  attention  to  this  one  necessity  of  having  the  soils 
brought  back  to  their  original  fertility,  as  they  can  be,  and  anything 
we  can  do  of  course  we  will  willingly  do  and  are  anxious  to  do,  and 
to  say  this  one  word,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  brought  me  here  to-day. 

"You  have  given  me  the.  courtesy  that  is  most  highly  prized  by 
a  stranger — you  have  listened  to  me. 

"And  I  thank  you  and  bid  you  good  afternoon." 

(Enthusiastic  and  prolonged  applause). 

MR.  E.  G.  MINER  (of  Rochester)  : 

"Mr.  Chairman,  in  order  that  the  sentiments  of  this  body  may 
be  embodied  in  some  concrete  shape,  I  move  that  a  Committee  be 
appointed  to  prepare  resolutions  and  submit  them  to  the  meeting  for 
consideration. 

Mr.  Miner's  motion  was  seconded  and  agreed  to;  whereupon 
the  Chair  appointed  the  following  gentlemen  to  serve  on  the  Com- 
mittee on  Resolutions:  f 

E«  G.  Miner,  of  Rochester  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

E.  Pfarrius,  of  New  York  Produce  Exchange. 

Frank  Brainard,  of  New  York  Board  of  Trade  and  Transportation. 

Herman  A.  Mletz,  of  the  Merchants'  Association,  of  N.  Y. 

Sereno  S.  Pratt,  of  the  Chamber  of  Com'merce  of  the  State  of  New  York. 

Geo.  A.  Frisbie,  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Utica. 

Hon.  J.   Sloat  Fassett,  Member  of  Congress. 

John  A.   Stewart,  of  Morrisville,  N.  Y. 

BY  THE  CHAIRMAN  : 

"Now,  gentlemen,  we  have  heard  from  our  Secretary  of  Agri- 
culture, and  I  am  sure  that  what  he  has  said  to  us  has  been  intensely 
interesting.  He  comes  to  us  with  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  subject 
on  which  he  has  spoken,  and  I  feel  that  you  will  take  home  with 
you  the  thoughts  that  he  has  expressed,  and  that  they  will  be  very 
beneficial  for  future  action.  He  has  spoken  for  the  country  at  large ; 

14 


not  for  this  State  particularly,  but  for  the  country  at  large.  We 
have  here  with  us  to-day  a  gentleman  young  in  years,  but  old  in 
experience,  who  has  been  looking  after  the  agricultural  interests  of 
this  State  for  quite  a  number  of  years.  He  understands  his  subject 
very  thoroughly ;  he  knows  what  the  needs  of  the  State  are,  and  what 
we  will  have  to  do  in  the  future  to  make  this  State  what  it  always 
has  been  and  we  hope  always  will  be — the  Empire  State  of  the  United 
States!  (Applause).  I  have  the  pleasure  of  introducing  to  you  Mr. 
R.  A.  Pearson,  our  Commissioner  of  Agriculture,  who  will  now 
address  you." 

(Vigorous  applause  as  Mr.  Pearson  approaches  the  platform). 

HON.  R.  A.  PSARSON,  Commissioner  of  Agriculture  of  the  State  of 

New  York,  said : 

"Mr.  President,  ladies  and  gentlemen:  I  appreciate  the  honor 
of  being  asked,  even  though  it  is  upon  very  short  notice,  to  say  a  few 
words  to  you.  First,  I  desire  to  express  the  appreciation  of  the  agri- 
cultural people  of  this  State  of  the  fact  that  the  great  leaders  of 
the  State  in  commerce  and  industry  are  giving  such  close  and  useful 
attention  to  the  problems  of  the  farmer.  I  wish  to  congratulate  Presi- 
dent Brown  upon  the  thought  of  getting  together  those  who  are 
attending  this  meeting,  President  Ring,  and  all  those  gentlemen  who 
are  associated  in  the  call. 

"The  agricultural  interests  of  the  State  are  well  represented  here. 
We  have  in  this  audience  representatives  from  the  State  College  of 
Agriculture,  from  the  State  Experiment  Station,  from  the  State  schools 
of  Agriculture,  the  Presidents  of  the  leading  agricultural  organiza- 
tions, the  Master  and  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  State  Grange 
which  numbers  ninety  thousand  in  its  membership,  and  many  indi- 
vidual, successful  farmers.  We  are  glad  to  feel  that  we  may  co- 
operate with  you  in  the  purposes  of  this  gathering. 

"Now^  just  in  a  minute  or  two  I  wish  to  give  you  a  few  figures 
—a  few  statistics.  Let  me  remind  you  that  according  to  the  last 
Uniied  States  census,  now  ten  years  old,  New  York  State  stood  fifth 
of  all  the  States  of  the  Nation  in  the  value  of  her  agricultural  prod- 
ucts, turning  out  a  quarter  billion  dollars  of  agricultural  products 
per  year;  exceeded  only  by  Ohio,  Illinois  and  Iowa.  But  New  York 
led  these  States  when  it  came  to  a  comparison  per  square  mile.  New 
York  State,  according  to  the  last  census,  stood  first  of  all  the  States 
in  the  number  of  dairy  farms,  in  the  number  of  cows  and  the  value 
of  dairy  products  sold.  Again,  of  all  the  States,  New  York  State 

15 


was  first  in  the  value  of  hay  and  forage,  in  the  value  of  her  potato 
crop  and  miscellaneous  vegatables;  first  in  each  of  these:  forest 
products,  as  in  flowers  and  foliage  plants,  in  small  fruits,  dry  beans, 
buckwheat,  nursery  products,  hops,  and  in  onions,  and  in  miscellaneous 
crops;  and  stood  second  of  all  the  States  in  the  value  of  her  orchard 
fruits,  maple  products,  and  third,  fourth  and  fifth  in  rank  in  other 
important  products. 

"Again,  we  have  heard  much  which  might  lead  us  to  think 
that  the  productivity  of  the  New  York  farms  has  been  rapidly  de- 
creasing. Let  me  give  you  just  a  few  figures  on  that  subject.  The 
average  product  per  acre  in  New  York  State  during  the  ten-year 
period  from  1867  to  1876,  of  oats,  was  32  bushels.  In  the  last  decade, 
just  closed,  it  was  32  bushels  also;  practically  no  change.  In  the 
case  of  wheat,  thirty  years  ago  the  average  ten-year  yield  in  fields 
growing  wheat  in  this  State  was  14  bushels;  the  average  per  acre; 
in  the  decade  just  closed  the  average  yield  of  wheat  per  acre  in  our 
State  was  18  bushels ;  an  increase  of  four  bushels  per  acre.  Barley, 
30  years  ago,  32  bushels  per  acre,  and  in  the  decade  just  closed  35 
bushels  per  acre.  These  figures  prove,  if  anything,  that  the  fertility 
of  New  York  farms  has  not  been  lost. 

"How  does  New  York  State  stand  in  comparison  with  the  great 
States  of  the  West  ?  According  to  the  figures  published  by  our  friend 
whom  we  love  to  honor — Secretary  Wilson — New  York  State  holds 
a  high  position  when  compared  with  other  States  as  to  yields  per 
acre.  For  example,  of  oats  New  York's  average  yield  per  acre  is 
32  bushels;  the  highest  average  yield  per  acre  reported  in  any  of 
the  Mississippi  Valley  States  is  27  bushels  per  acre;  5  bushels  per 
acre  less  than  New  York.  In  the  case  of  rye  the  average  in  New 
York  State  is  i6J  bushels  per  acre,  and  this  is  exceeded  by  only 
three  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  States,  the  largest  being  i8J.  Barley, 
New  York  25  bushels  per  acre,  which  was  exceeded  by  four  Mis- 
sissippi Valley  States. 

"What  has  been  said  could  be  extended  at  great  length  and  could 
be  justified  on  many  grounds. 

"Now,  in  spite  of  these  figures,  which  seem  to  have  a  rosy 
appearance,  agriculture  in  New  York  States  and  in  the  East  has 
confronting  it  to-day  some  very  serious  problems. 

"We  have  heard  Secretary  Wilson  in  his  most  able  and  instructive 
address  discuss  the  value  of  food  products,  and  the  rising  cost  of 
living.  We  hear  rumblings  of  the  difficulty  of  securing  labor  in  agri- 
cultural districts,  and  I  can  assure  you  that  it  is  a  very  general  dif- 

16 


ficulty  in  some  sections  and  at  some  times  of  the  year.  Now,  briefly, 
—Secretary  Wilson  touched  on  this  so  clearly  that  I  need  not  mention 
it — what  is  the  cause  of  cheap  farms  in  New  York  State,  and  the 
fact  that  so  many  persons  are  not  looking  with  favor  upon  agriculture 
in  this  State?  I  believe  there  are  two  leading  causes:  First, 
the  opening  of  a  great  West,  when  from  twenty  to  forty  years 
ago  it  was  possible  for  farmers  of  the  East  to  find  fertile 
farms  merely  for  the  asking.  The  result  was  that  large  numbers 
of  our  farmers  left  for  those  Western  regions,  even  at  a  sacrifice 
of  their  own  home  farms.  Then  again,  the  industrial  activities  East 
have  been  going  forward  by  leaps  and  bounds,  and  they  had  to  have 
labor  at  any  cost ;  and  many  a  young  man  at  the  farm  has  felt  it  to 
his  advantage  to  change  from  the  country  to  the  city  in  order  to 
secure  larger  pay.  I  will  not  attempt  to  discuss  whether  it  was  in 
his  interest  to  do  this  or  not;  the  fact  is  that  many  of  them  did  it. 
The  farmers  of  the  East  have  been  going  to  the  West  and  to  the  cities. 
The  farmers  have  made  the  cities. 

"Now,  many  of  the  thinking  men  in  agriculture  have  realized 
the  changing  conditions  and  the  serious  problems  that  have  been 
cropping  slowly  upon  us.  There  are  to-day  in  the  State  of  New 
York  twenty-one  different  organized  agencies  working  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  agriculture.  There  is  our  State  College  of  Agriculture ; 
and  you  need  go  nowhere  else  if  you  would  find  evidence  of  increasing 
interest  in  our  agriculture.  That  college  when  established  in  1868 
enrolled  scarcely  a  hand-full  of  students,  and  the  number  of  agricul- 
ture students  was  conspicuous  because  of  its  small  size  year  after 
year  up  to  1895,  an<^  at  the  same  time  entries  in  the  mechanical  courses 
were  increasing  in  number  rapidly.  But  in  1895  a  change  was  in- 
troduced. Then  there  were  55  students  in  the  State  College  of  Agri- 
culture. This  year,  in  round  numbers,  how  many  are  studying  agri- 
culture— exclusively  agriculture — in  our  State  College  of  Agriculture? 
One  thousand,  compared  with  55  in  1895  •  A.  thousand  young  men, 
with  a  few  young  women,  compared  with  55  about  fifteen  years  ago! 
And  our  State  recently  has  established  free  schools  of  agriculture, 
and  we  find  great  interest  being  manifested  by  the  young  men  in  the 
localities  of  these  schools.  Their  classrooms  in  some  instances  are 
not  large  enough  to  hold  the  students  seeking  instruction.  This  is 
evidence  of  a  changing  condition.  We  have  a  State  Experiment 
Station.  We  have  a  State  Department  of  Agriculture,  conducted  in 
the  farmers'  interests.  And  within  the  last  few  days  a  new  force 
has  come  into  the  field  which  bids  fair  to  exercise  a  strong  influence. 

17 


Governor  Hughes  has  recently  signed  a  bill  which  provides  for  putting 
agricultural  instruction  into  rural  high  schools. 

"Our  honored  Secretary  told  you  what  is  altogether  true;  too 
true!  He  said  that  the  schools  have  been  taking  the  youth  away 
from  the  farms.  Now  it  looks  as  though  conditions  were  about  to 
be  restored  to  where  they  ought  to  be.  The  students  from  farms 
may  learn  farming  in  their  own  schools  if  they  choose  to  do  so. 

"Then  we  have  about  eight  hundred  agricultural  organizations 
in  the  State.  We  have  a  number  of  splendid  agricultural  papers  which 
are  finding  their  way  into  the  farmers'  homes  every  week.  Best  of 
all,  we  have  thousands  of  farmers  who  to-day  are  making  splendid 
successes.  If  you  could  visit  the  homes  of  some  of  these  men,  steam 
heated,  containing  some  of  the  most  modern  improvements,  and  ride 
in  their  automobiles,  you  would  see  an  encouraging  side  of  farm  life 
to  say  the  least. 

"One  of  the  latest  forces  is  that  all  the  railroads — the  New  York 
Central,  Lehigh  Valley,  Erie,  Buffalo,  Rochester  &  Pittsburg,  Dela- 
ware, Lackawanna  &  Western — I  am  sorry  I  began  naming  them ; 
I  am  afraid  I  will  leave  one  out,  and  my  railroad  friends  would  be 
offended.  These  railroads  are  taking  a  great  interest,  a  change  in 
its  way — are  taking  active  steps  in  attracting  attention  to  the  brighter 
and  better  side  of  agriculture. 

"Gentlemen,  the  conditions  are  improving.  We  have  started  on 
the  upward  grade.  The  tide  has  turned.  There  is  no  better  evidence 
of  this  than  a  little  piece  of  work  I  have  here.  We  issue  every  three 
months  a  bulletin  like  the  one  I  hold  in  my  hand,  with  lists  of  farms 
for  sale  in  the  State  of  New  York.  Within  the  last  three  or  four 
years  $4,000,000  worth  of  those  farms  have  changed  hands,  and  during 
that  period  we  have  noticed  a  tendency  for  the  values  of  farms  all 
over  the  State  to  increase.  I  wish  that  Secretary  Wilson  would  come 
to  Albany  to  speak  to  some  of  the  Finance  Committees  of  the  Legis- 
lature. I  assure  him  I  have  never  been  scolded  yet  because  I  do 
not  ask  for  enough  for  agriculture.  Last  year  the  appropriation  was 
.  $1,600,000,  and  just  to  show  the  interest  in  the  subject  I  may  say 
that  bills  have  been  introduced  this  year  which,  if  possible,  will  carry 
appropriations  for  agricultural  purposes  of  more  than  double  the 
amount  appropriated  last  year,  coming  near  to  the  four  million  dollar 
point. 

"The  farmers  are  just  beginning  to  take  new  hope.  Perhaps  I 
have  emphasized  the  bright  side  a  little  too  much.  I  hope  not.  There 

18 


are  large  numbers  of  them  who  have  been  terribly  discouraged.  There 
are  large  numbers  of  them  who  in  years  past  have  hardly  been  able 
to  see  how  they  could  keep  their  homes  on  the  farms. 

"What  the  farmers  to-day  want  is  help,  and  not  charity.  What 
they  want  is  fair  play,  (Applause).  They  want  help  in  connection 
with  the  marketing  of  their  products.  Part  of  the  blame  is  on  them- 
selves. They  need  to  have  faults  all  along  the  line  to  the  very  doors 
of  the  consumers'  houses  corrected.  They  need  help  to  learn  the 
unused  and  best  methods  of  farming.  Methods  of  farming  have  been 
almost  completely  revolutionized,  in  some  branches  at  least,  in  the 
last  decade.  Go  upon  the  modern,  fruit  farm,  and  you  will  hardly 
see  an  important  branch  of  work  done  as  it  was  done  ten  years  ago 
They  need  instruction  on  unused  methods  of  farming,  225,000  of 
them  need  it. 

"Secondly,  they  want  fair  prices  for  their  products.  They  have 
to  sell  a  quart  of  milk  for  three  cents.  A  cow  costs  $60,  and  it  costs 
$60  a  year  to  keep  it,  and  the  product  of  many  a  cow  in  the  State 
has  brought  $60  a  year.  They  could  get  only  three  cents,  or  there- 
abouts, for  their  milk.  They  want  a  fair  price  for  that  milk.  With 
these  things  and  some  few  others  I  might  mention,  the  farmers  will 
co-operate  with  all  interested  in  the  very  rapid  settlement  of  their 
problems. 

"The  farmers  of  the  State  want  more  people  on  the  farms.  We 
want  gentlemen  like  I  see  in  this  audience  on  the  farms  of  the  State 
— you,  and  others  like  you.  We  do  not  want  on  the  farms  of  this 
State  shiftless,  unsuccessful  persons  who  cannot* make  their  own  way 
in  this  great  city.  There  are  very  few  of  that  kind  who  succeed 
on  farms.  We  want  men  who  will  be  able  to  give  a  good  account 
of  themselves;  men  who  have  a  liking  for  the  country,  and  let  the 
others  who  have  a  liking  for  the  city  take  your  places.  So,  I  say 
have  the  farmers  of  the  city  come  up  into  the  country.  We  want 
more  farmers.  We  want  you  to  come  up  where  you  can  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  conditions  that  are  now  beginning  to  improve,  where 
you  can  enjoy  freedom,  where  every  American  enjoys  it,  and  nowhere 
better  than  on  the  farm  in  New  York  State." 

(Hearty  applause). 

BY  THE  CHAIRMAN  : 

i 

"After  hearing  that  address  of  Commissioner  Pearson,  I  am  sure 
we  all  want  to  be  farmers ;  New  York  City  possesses  no  more  attrac- 

19 


tion.     We  will  all  leave  the  'Great  White  Way'  and  migrate  to  the 
farms. 

"There  is  another  subject  very  closely  connected  with  these  farm- 
ing  interests.  We  need  more  help.  The  farmer  complains  that  he 
cannot  get  sufficient  help.  We  want  first-class  farmers  from  some 
source*.  It  is  a  difficult  problem.  As  you  know,  the  laws  of  the 
United  States  are  very  strict  about  making  any  arrangements  for 
foreigners  to  come  from  their  countries  to  this;  but  we  wish  some 
of  them  would  come  here.  We  had  hoped  to  have  with  us  Secretary 
Nagel,  of  the  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  at  Washington, 
but  unfortunately  he  has  not  been  able  to  come.  We  have  with  us, 
however,  Assistant  Secretary  Cable,  and  would  appreciate  it  if  he 
would  say  a" few  words  to  us,  perhaps  along  this  line." 

MR.  BENJAMIN  S.  CABLE,  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Department  of 

Commerce  and  Labor,  Washington,  D.  C.,  said: 
"Mr.  President,  ladies  and  gentlemen :  I  am  very  thoroughly  con- 
vinced that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor, 
through  the  Bureau  of  Immigration,  to  properly  distribute  some  of  the 
thousands  of  immigrants  that  are  coming  to  these  shores  every  day. 
Up  to  the  present  we  have  devoted  most  of  our  time  and  most  of  our 
energy  to  trying  to  determine  what  immigrants  should  be  excluded 
and  what  immigrants  should  be  admitted.  We  have,  however,  come 
to  the  point  where  we  have  found  that  there  is  one  other  thing  for 
us  to  do,  and  that  is  to  properly  distribute  and  attempt  to  assimmilate 
those  various  persons,  that  come.  The  immigration  into  the  United 
States  now  runs  from  3,000  to  5,000  aliens  a  day.  Most  of  these 
people  come  in  at  the  port  of  New  York.  A  great  many  are  farmers 
• — have  had  considerable  farm  experience  in  the  old  country.  Thev 
would  be  glad  to  carry  on  that  work  here  if  they  knew  where  to  go 
The  difficulty  has  been  in  the  past  that  they  have  fallen  into  the  clutche? 
of  labor  agencies  who  exploit  this  labor,  take  away  the  little  money 
these  men  bring  in  in  fees,  and  get  them  a  poor  job,  or  probably  a 
job  in  some  sweat  shop  to  end  up  with.  We  have  a  Bureau  of 
Information  in  the  Bureau  of  Immigration,  and  an  office  here  in  New 
York.  We  are  just  beginning  to  get  the  work  of  that  division  well 
under  way.  We  average  now  probably  100  immigrants  for  whom 
we  secure  good  and  permanent  positions  on  farms.  Most  of  these 
men  are  taken  to  farms  in  New  York  State.  We  expect  to  have 
more  every  day,  as  soon  as  we  can  do  something  further  toward 
perfecting  this  system  of  distribution.  It  seems  to  me  that  supplying 

20 


the  proper  farm  help  is  a  very  important  part  of  the  object  of  this 
meeting,  to  restore  some  farms  in  New  York  State  that  have  been 
abandoned,  as  I  understand  it,  and  to  aid  you  and  aid  the  farmers 
of  this  State  in  securing  the  help  that  is  necessary  for  this  important 
work.  When  you  consider  that  during  the  year  1910  there  probably 
will  have  been  more  than  1,000,000  people  admitted  to  this  country 
from  the  old  country,  you  will  have  to  consider  how  they  are  going 
to  be  fed.  The  only  way  you  can  feed  them,  as  I  understand  the 
agricultural  situation  to-day,  is  to  open  up  more  farms  in  the  West 
and  to  supply  farmers  in  both  the  East  and  West  with  proper,  and 
competent,  and  sufficient  men  to  help  to  properly  till  and  cultivate 
their  farms.  This  is  one  of  the  incidents  that  must  be  considered, 
and  I  am  simply  here  for  the  Department  of  Commerce  &  Labor 
and  our  Secretary,  to  say  that  we  are  glad  and  ready  and  willing, 
and  will  do  everything  in  our  power  to  assist  in  securing  the  proper 
kind  and  amount  of  labor  through  our  Immigration  Bureau,  if  this 
is  possible." 

(Applause). 

BY  THE  CHAIRMAN  : 

"There  is  one  element  very  closely  allied  to  our  farming  interests. 
The  farm  depends  upon  it  and  could  not  get  along  without  it.  Some 
people  criticize  it ;  we  all  like  it  and  have  to  have  it.  We  have  a 
gentleman  here  to-day  who  represents  one  of  the  large  institutions 
of  this  State  and  extending  into  other  States.  We  all  know  what  he 
is,  but  I  want  to  tell  you  that  he  is  one  of  the  leading  farmers  of 
the  country.  Some  may  not  realize  it,  but  he  is  a  practical,  first- 
class  farmer.  He  knows  what  to  do  and  how  to  do  it.  It  gives  me 
great  pleasure  to  introduce  Mr.  W.  C.  Brown,  President  of  the  New 
York  Central  Lines."  \ 

(Vigorous  applause  as  Mr.  Brown  takes  his  place  on  the  plat- 
form). 

MR.  W.  C.  BROWN,  President  of  the  New  York  Central  Lines,  said: 
"Mr.  President,  ladies  and  gentlemen:  Perhaps  it  is  due  the 
ladies  and  gentlemen  present  to  say  a  word  in  explanation  of  the 
graphic  chart,  or  diagram,  that  is  hung  on  the  blackboard.  That  was 
made  up  by  experts  employed  by  me,  and  its  history  is  this :  In  1860 
the  New  York  Central  Railroad  built  in  Buffalo  four  large  grain 
elevators.  They  have  been  repaired  from  time  to  time,  but  during 
the  last  two  or  three  years  it  became  very  evident  that  those  elevators 

21 


would  have  to  be  rebuilt  within  a  very  short  time ;  and  as  this  involved 
the  expenditure  of  some  six  or  seven  millions  of  dollars,  the  question 
as  to  the  necessity  of  rebuilding  these  elevators  became  a  very  im- 
portant one;  and  I  engaged  some  experts  to  look  into  the  question 
of  production  and  consumption — the  difference  between  the  two  rep- 
resenting the  amount  of  cereals,  of  grain,  exported  from  this  country. 

"The  chart  began  in  1868.  The  solid  line  represents  production, 
the  broken  line  consumption.  It  is  exact  up  to  and  including  1908. 
From  1908  forward  it  is  as  close  an  approximation  as  can  be  made 
of  the  future  by  what  the  past  has  taught  us;  and  if  these  lines  are 
correct — and  they  are  absolutely  correct — unless  production  can  be 
increased  or  consumption  decreased,  in  1913  the  last  bushel  of  corn, 
wheat,  oats,  barley  and  rye  will  have  left  these  shores  that  this  country 
will  ever  sell.  The  great  export  elevators  in  our  seaboard  cities  will 
stand  idle  and  empty,  and  this  Nation,  like  the  nations  of  the  old 
world,  will  be  looking  about  for  a  place  to  purchase  the  necessities 
of  life.  There  is  an  absolute  demonstration  of  the  question  that  has 
been  bothering  all  of  us;  the  question  £hat  is  right  now  adding  eight 
and  one-quarter  millions  of  dollars  per  annum  to  the  pay-rolls  of 
the  New  York  Central  Lines,  a  like  amount  to  the  pay-rolls  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Lines,  and  around  $100,000,000  per  annum  to  the  pay- 
rolls of  the  railroads  of  the  United  States — the  question  of  the  high 
cost  of  living. 

"Somebody  was  responsible  ^for  that  unspeakable  folly,  the  meat 
boycott.  Secretary  Wilson's  Department  tells  us  that  on  the  first 
of  January,  1910,  there  were  between  ten  and  eleven  million  less 
food-producing  animals  on  the  farms  of  the  Nation  than  there  were 
one  year  before.  Secretary  Nagel's  Department  will  tell  you  that  on 
the  first  day  of  January,  1910,  there  were  several  millions  of  men 
employed  in  the  United  States  above  the  number  employed  a  year 
before — men  receiving  good  wages  and  in  a  position  to  buy  meat. 
Could  there  be  any  other  result  than  a  tremendous  increase  in  the 
cost  of  meat? 

"I  want  to  read  perhaps  one  of  the  most  interesting  things  I 
have  ever  received — a  letter  from  David  M.  Dunning,  President  of 
the  Auburn  Savings  Bank,  of  Auburn,  N.  Y.  It  is  entitled  'From 
Cat-tails  to  Corn.' 

Mr.  Brown  then  read  a  letter  from  David  M.  Dunning,  of 
Auburn,  N.  Y.,  setting  forth  the  advantages  of  proper  drainage  and 
care  of  land,  and  citing  instances  of  vast  increases  in  the  value  of 
lands  in  his  neighborhood  so  improved. 

II 


He  goes  on  to  give  another  case  where  land  was  bought  in  the 
same  country  for  $2.50  an  acre,  $7.50  an  acre  was  expended  in  drain- 
ing the  land,  and  it  sold  at  $50  an  acre. 

"I  regret  that  1  cannot  agree  with  Secretary  Pearson  entirely  in 
his  rather  rosy  view  of  agricultural  conditions  in  New  York  State. 
I  was  looking  over  the  statistics  for  the  twenty-year  period  from 
1880  to  1900,  the  figures  for  1900  being  the  last  available. 

"Farm  acreage  in  1880  was  23,780,00x5;  in  1900,  22,648,000;  a 
decrease  of  nearly  five  per  cent. 

"Acres  of  improved  farm  land  decreased  more  than  twelve  per 
cent. ;  acres  of  unimproved  farm  land  increased  more  than  sixteen 
per  cent. — practically  abandoned  farm  land. 

"Values,  including  buildings,  decreased  more  than  19  per  cent. 

"The  average  value  per  acre  decreased  11.7  per  cent. 

"I  was  looking  over  some  data  of  farming  lands  which  were  not 
included  in  the  pamphlet  the  Department  issues. 

"In  Madison  County  a  farm  of  142  acres  (this  is  amazing  to 
a  man  from  Iowa,  like  Secretary  Wilson,  General  Clarkson,  and  my- 
self) is  offered  for  $2,200,  or  about  $15.50  per  acre.  This  farm 
is  three  miles  from  the  Village  of  Morrisville,  has  122  acres  of  tillable 
land,  22  acres  of  wood  land,  and  is  equipped  with  good  buildings. 

"Another  farm  in  this  vicinity  of  188  acres  is  offered  for  $4,000, 
or  about  $21  per  acre.  This  farm  has  a  seven-room  house,  barn 
with  stanchions  for  thirty  cattle,  silo  granary,  ice-house,  hog-house, 
horse  barn,  wagon  shed  and  other  buildings.  The  owner  offers  to 
include  at  this  price  all  his  farming  tools  and  impliments.  The  build- 
ings and  machinery  on  his  place  could  not  be  duplicated  for  $4,000, 
so  the  land  is  thrown  in  with  the  buildings. 

"A  farm  of  200  acres  near  Ithaca,  almost  under  the  shadow 
of  the  Agricultural  College  of  New  York,  two  miles  from  the  rail- 
road, is  offered  for  sale  for  $4,500,  or  $22.50  per  acre.  This  farm 
has  153  acres  of  tillable  land,  17  acres  of  wood,  and  thirty  acres  of 
spring-water  pasture.  The  buildings  consist  of  a  ten-room  house, 
barn  with  stanchions  for  twenty  cows,  silo,  wood-house  and  other 
buildings. 

"It  seems  to  me,  as  citizens  of  New  York  it  is  the  part  of  wisdom 
to  look  the  situation  squarely  in  the  face. 

"The  government  of  Canada  has  just  issued  a  statement  that 
during  the  past  year  163,798  persons  emigrated  from  the  United 
States  to  Canada.  This  is  over  one-half  the  total  immigration  into 
that  country,  and  is  double  the  number  of  persons  that  left  the  United 

23 


States  for  Canada  in  any  previous  year.  I  know  that  something  like 
2,000  families  moved  to  Canada  from  the  State  of  Iowa  alone.  From 
personal  observation  I  think  a  great  majority  of  these  families  were 
young  married  couples,  the  family  usually  consisting  of  the  husband 
and  wife;  but  taking  the  total  number,  163,798,  and  assuming  an 
average  of  four  in  each  family,  would  give  40,950  families  that  have 
emigrated  from  the  United  States  to  Canada  in  a  single  year.  I 
believe  that  an  allowance  of  $1,000  to  each  family  is  too  low.  I 
think  $3,000  is  too  low.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  think  it  would  con- 
siderably exceed  that  amount.  But  assuming  that  each  family  took 
with  them  $1,000,  it  shows  that  in  a  single  year  United  States  has 
lost  to  Canada  approximately  41,000  of  its  best  families,  and  with 
them  $41,000,000  in  money.  The  money  does  not  count  very  much, 
but  the  United  States  cannot  afford  to  lose  that  kind  of  families. 
(Applause).  In  the  face  of  these  facts,  the  figures  gathered  by  the 
Conservation  Commission  are  surprising.  They  are  alarming.  These 
statistics  show  that  there  are  16,000  square  miles  of  practically  aban- 
doned farms  in  New  England,  New  York  and  the  Southeast  and 
Middle-central  States.  They  show  that  there  are  in  the  United  States 
at  present  10,000,000  acres  of  practically  abandoned  farm  land,  an 
area  as  large  as  the  cultivated  part  of  the  Canadian  Northwest,  or 
twice  the  size  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts.  I  am  glad  to  see  the 
movement  for  the  conservation  of  our  natural  resources  being  gradu- 
ally directed  to  that  particular  resource  which  in  importance  out- 
weighs all  others — and  that  is  the  conservation  of  our  soil.  Husband 
our  coal  supply  as  we  will,  economize  in  its  use  to  the  last  limit, 
but  the  day  will  come  when  the  last  ton  will  have  been  mined  and 
nothing  remain  but  the  empty  holes  in  the  ground. 

"Science  has  demonstrated  the  possibility  of  harnessing  our  great 
water-powers,  and  gathering  from  the  atmosphere  light,  heat  and 
power  to  such  an  extent  that  it  seems  possible  that  a  complete  substitute 
may  be  some  time  found  that  will  make  the  use  of  coal  for  these 
purposes  unnecessary. 

"No  substitute  has  ever  been  found  for  the  sustenance  which 
humanity  has  drawn  from  the  bosom  of  Mother  Earth  since  the  dawn 
of  creation;  the  supply  of  which  must  not  only  be  maintained,  but 
must  be  continually  increased  and  augmented  if  the  human  race  is 
to  continue  to  exist. 

"In  1909,  for  the  first  time  in  our  history,  the  United  States 
took  second  place  among  the  great  food-exporting  nations  of  the 
world.  The  Republic  of  Argentine  forged  to  the  front,  exceeding 

24 


us  in  our  exports  of  all  kinds  of  cereals,  and  exporting  60  per  cent, 
of  all  the  meat-stuffs  imported  by  Europe.  The  products  of  the 
Nation's  farms  in  1909  approximated  nine  billion  dollars,  but  "not- 
withstanding this  fact  the  price  of  these  products  in  the  early  months 
of  1910  rose  to  the  highest  level  in  the  history  of  the  country;  and, 
at  the  same  time,  our  exports  of  these  products  diminished  at  a  con- 
tinuous and  alarming  rate. 

"There  is  no  question  whatever  that  intelligent  fertilization  and 
cultivation  of  the  present  acreage  in  the  United  States  would  result 
in  doubling  the  production  of  1909;  and  there  is  no  question  but 
that  this  result  would  have  enabled  the  United  States  to  have  main- 
tained its  place  as  the  first  exporting,  food-producing  nation.  At  the 
same  time,  it  would  have  been  possible  to  keep  the  price  of  the  neces- 
saries of  life  down  to  a  more  reasonable  figure. 

"It  seems  to  me  that  the  most  important  subject  now  pressing 
for  consideration  is  this  question  of  improved  agricultural  conditions 
— intelligent  farming.  In  my  opinion,  it  overshadows  in  importance 
the  tariff,  the  regulation  of  corporations,  and  all  other  questions  of 
public  policy.  And  while  these  important  subjects  should  not  be  lost 
sight  of,  this  great  question  of  conservation,  improvement  and  in- 
telligent cultivation  of  the  soil  of  the  Nation  should  be  given  first 
place. 

"Comparing  the  year  1909  with  1899,  the  acreage  of  land — and 
keep  these  figures  in  your  head  now — devoted  to  agriculture  in  the 
United  States  increased  twenty-three  per  cent.  Production  increased 
thirty-six  per  cent.  On  the  face  of  it,  that  looks  favorable ;  but  bear 
in  mind  that  almost  the  entire  increased  production  was  the  product 
of  irrigated  land  in  the  West;  land  reclaimed  by  irrigation  that  will 
produce  on  the  average  two  bushels  to  one  produced  by  the  best  land 
in  the  Mississippi  Valley.  Acreage  increased  twenty-three  (23)  per 
cent.;  production  thirty-six  (36)  per  cent.;  and  consumption  sixty 
(60)  per  cent. 

"The  statistics  reveal  a  most  serious  present  economical  problem, 
and  it  seems  to  me  they  foreshadow  an  economic  crisis  the  importance 
of  which  is  but  faintly  appreciated. 

"In  this  important  movement  I  think  the  State  of  New  York  and 
this  great  city  should  be  leaders.  The  first  and  most  important  reason 
is  that  no  State  in  the  Union  needs  this  improved  agriculture  so 
badly  as  the  State  of  New  York;  and,  secondly,  because  in  a  great 
National  movement  of  this  kind  the  State  of  New  York  is  and  naturally 
should  be  a  leader.  For  this  reason  I  have  joined  in  the  call  for 


this  conference,  and  I  am  here  to  pledge,  with  the  other  gentlemen 
present,  the  best  efforts,  the  most  hearty  co-operation  and  assistance 
of  the  great  corporations  with  which  I  have  the  honor  to  be  asso- 
ciated, and  the  best  efforts  that  I  can  give  personally  to  this  most 
important  of  all  subjects." 

(Long  and  loud  applause). 

BY  THE  CHAIRMAN  : 

"I  think  that  was  a  very  fine  promise  that  President  Brown  made 
to  us  just  now.  We  know  what  the  corporations  he  is  connected 
with  have  done  and  can  do,  and  we  believe  they  will  do  great 
things  in  future  to  help  this  movement.  I  know  President  Brown  is 
thoroughly  in  earnest  in  that  matter,  and  that  he  does  not  mean, 
so  far  as  he  is  concerned  and  his  corporations  are  concerned,  that 
it  shall  stop  here,  but  that  it  shall  go  on  and  grow. 

"We  have  a  gentleman  with  us  to-day,  a  gentleman  from  the 
western  part  of  the  State,  who  spends  most  of  his  time  in  Washing- 
ton making  good  laws  for  us.  It  gives  me  very  great  pleasure  to 
introduce  Congressman  Dwight,  from  Ithaca." 

HON.  JOHN  W.  DWIGHT,  United  States  Congressman  from  the  Thir- 
teenth District  of  New  York,  said : 

"Mr.  President,  I  will  not  make  a  speech.  All  the  gentlemen 
who  preceded  me  have  made  my  speech.  I  believe  that  every  man 
present  here  to-day  regrets  the  necessity  of  holding  this  meeting. 
In  the  papers  and  magazines  general  discussion  has  been  held — it 
has  been  talked  everywhere — on  the  cost  of  living,  the  increased  cost 
of  living,  abandoned  farms,  unusued  farms,  unoccupied  farms — call 
them  that  you  will;  but  all  of  those  conditions  have  resulted  in  our 
meeting  here  to-day.  You  have  had  all  the  statistics,  have  you  not? 
In  a  general  way.  With  the  greatest  crops  ever  raised  in  this  country 
last  year,  amounting  to  eight  and  three-quarter  billions  of  dollars, 
the  cost  of  living  is  the  highest  ever  known.  That  cannot  continue 
unless  we  increase  the  production.  We  have  here  to-day  gentlemen 
who  have  told  us  what  the  soils  of  New  York  would  do;  that  they 
were  ready  to  co-operate  with  the  Department  of  Agriculture  of 
this  State.  Secretary  Wilson,  of  the  National  Bureau,  offers  his 
co-operation.  The  Bureau  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  'with  its  Immi- 
gration Department,  offers  its  services.  Every  railroad  president 
in  the  State  of  New  York  is  represented  here  to-day,  ready  and 
willing  to  take  hold  of  this  movement  to  increase  the  agricultural 

£6 


products  of  this  State.  The  President  of  the  State  Grange  is  here. 
The  President  of  the  New  York  Produce  Exchange,  the  Presidents 
of  the  Boards  of  Trade  and  Chambers  of  Commerce  all  through  the 
State,  ready  and  willing  to  take  hold  of  this  movement.  It  seems 
to  me,  gentlemen,  that  we  should  all  work  together.  We  cannot 
work  together  without  organization.  We  must  have  perfect  organi- 
zation, and  I  therefore  move  that  a  committee  of  five  selected  from 
all  the  interests,  be  appointed  as  a  Committee  on  Permanent  Organi- 
zation." 

(Applause). 

Mr.  Dwight's  motion  was  seconded  and  agreed  to,  whereon  the 
Chairman  appointed  the  following  gentlemen: 

John  W.  Dwight, 
E.  G.  Miner, 
Geo.  W.  Thayer, 
William  McCarroll, 
R.  A.  Pearson. 

BY  THE  CHAIRMAN  : 

"We  have  quite  a  number  of  gentlemen  here.  I  am  sure  some 
of  them  can  say  some  things  of  wisdom  to  us.  I  am  going  to  ask 
them  to  be  fairly  brief  in  their  remarks,  limiting  them  from  five  to 
ten  minutes  if  they  can  find  it  convenient.  I  hope  they  will  respond 
wherever  they  can.  I  will  call  upon  Mr.  Caldwell,  Vice-President 
of  that  grand  road  that  runs  from  New  York  to  Buffalo,  the  Dela- 
'ware,  Lackawanna  &  Western." 

(Applause). 

MR.  B.  D.  CALDWEXL,  Vice-President  of  the  Delaware,  Lackawanna 

&  Western  Railroad  Company,  said: 

"Mr.  Chairman,  ladies  and  gentlemen:  I  have  no  speech  to 
make.  I  have  the  honor  to-day  to  represent  our  President,  who  is 
absent,  and  to  bring  you  on  his  behalf  and  on  behalf  of  the  Lacka- 
wanna Company  our  assurance  of  a  hearty  interest  and  cordial  support 
in  this  enterprise.  Every  great  enterprise  requires  great  leaders,  and 
to  me  the  most  encouraging  factor  in  this  enterprise  is  that  the  rail- 
ways of  the  country  are  back  of  it.  I  believe  that  the  railways  of 
the  company  here  are  to  be  congratulated  on  the  fact  that  they  have 
as  their  leader  the  versatile  and  distinguished  President  of  the  New 
York  Central  Company.  Until  within  a  comparatively  recent  time 

27 


it  was  considered  a  doubtful  compliment  to  pay  to  a  railroad  man 
to  refer  to  him  as  a  farmer;  but  under  the  leadership  of  Mr.  Brown 
it  has  become  to-day  a  badge  of  honor,  and  it  augurs  well  for  the 
success  of  this  movement  that  men  of  his  type  are  unequivocally 
pledged  to  its  support." 

MR.  W.  C.  BARRY,  President  of  the  Western  New  York  Horticultural 
Society,  of  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  said: 

"Gentlemen,  I  hardly  think  I  can  add  anything  of  importance 
to  that  which  has  been  said  to-day.  I  come  from  Western  New 
York,  which,  as  you  know  very  well,  is  a  region  famed  the  world 
over  for  its  products,  especially  its  fruit  products.  Now,  the  ques- 
tion to-day  is  how  can  we  increase  this  production.  The  question 
is  how  can  we  restore  fertility  that  has  been  lost.  Criticism  has 
been  made  of  the  present  condition  of  farming  in  New  York  State, 
and  it  is  proper  for  us  to  understand  why  this  condition  prevails 
to-day.  Now,  it  would  take  quite  a  little  time  to  make  this  explana- 
tion, and  I  know  at  this  late  hour  you  are  in  no  humor  to  listen  to 
lengthy  remarks ;  but  I  will  say  briefly  that  this  virgin  soil  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  which  produced  such  great  crops  years  ago, 
is  gone.  Our  people,  discovering  that  there  were  no  means  of  re- 
storing fertility  to  this  soil,  emigrated  to  the  West,  and  established 
their  farms  in  the  West,  deserting  New  York  State.  And  what  is 
the  result  to-day?  We  have  no  means  of  restoring  fertility  to  the 
soil.  We  are  up  against  a  big  proposition ;  and  we  are  very  glad 
to  have  help — help  of  the  best  kind — to  solve  this  difficult  question 
with  which  we  are  confronted  to-day.  New  York  State  certainly 
should  hold  first  place.  It  can  hold  first  place,  and  it  will  hold  first 
place  in  time.  But  we  shall  have  to  be  patient;  we  shall  have  to 
study  out  this  question,  and  then  we  shall  have  to  do  what  is  neces- 
sary to  be  done,  with  the  co-operation  of  everybody.  I  say  with  the 
co-operation  of  everybody,  because  the  farmer  alone  cannot  do  it. 
Now,  how  to  restore  the  fertility  of  the  soil  is  the  great,  big  question. 
I  think  that  in  the  course  of  time,  perhaps  not  many  years  distant, 
we  shall  be  able  again  to  report  as  large  returns  as  we  have  in  the 
past,  through  the  improved  methods.  What  I  want  to  say  to-day  is 
that  I  believe  that  everything  is  being  done  that  can  possibly  be  done 
by  the  farmer  himself.  He  is  sending  his  son  to  the  schools  of 
agriculture;  he  is  obtaining  all  the  information  he  can  from  the  ex- 
periment stations;  and  with  his  limited  means  and  poor  help  he  is 
doing  fairly  well  under  the  circumstances.  The  help  question — the 

28 


labor  question — is  another  tremendous  obstacle  in  this  undertaking. 
That  is  something  that  perhaps  the  various  organizations  can  aid  in 
removing.  It  is  most  important  to  get  help  to  do  the  work  on  the 
farm.  There  are  other  things  that  can  be  remedied,  but  they  can  only 
be  remedied  by  co-operation.  Only,  think  of  it!  Farming  has  been 
such  a  discouraging  undertaking  that  our  young  men — the  best  men 
in  the  country — have  deserted  the  farm  everywhere  and  rushed  into 
the  cities,  leaving  the  father  and  mother  to  take  care  of  the  farms. 
Now,  this  is  no  exaggeration.  What  has  brought  that  about,  that 
everybody  should  rush  into  the  city,  to  do  business  in  the  city  ?  How 
is  it  going  to  end,  gentlemen,  if  that  thing  continues?  These  are 
things  we  are  up  against,  and  it  requires  co-operation  on  the  part 
of  the  farmer,  the  businessman,  the  manufacturer,  and  everybody 
else,  to  solve  it;  and  I  want  to  say  that  I  am  very  grateful  to  those 
who  are  lending  their  aid  to  this  cause,  because  it  is  one  of  the  most 
important  undertakings  of  the  time.  I  know  that  under  this  proposed 
plan  most  successful  results  will  follow ;  and  I  ask  most  earnestly 
from  outsiders  the  heartiest  and  most  earnest  co-operation  that  it  is 
possible  to  give;  and  I  can  assure  you  that  the  results  will  be  most 
satisfactory.  I  thank  you,  ladies  and  gentlemen." 

(Applause). 

The  Chairman  then  announced  that  the  Committee  on  Resolu- 
tions was  prepared  to  report;  and  thereupon 

MIR.  E.  G.  MINER,  for  the  Committee  on  'Resolutions,  offered  the 
following : 

WHEREAS,  The  increasing  prices  of  food  products  are  largely  due  to 
the  unequal  distribution  of  our  population  as  between  cities 
and  farms;  and 

WHEREAS,  The  correct  solution  of  the  problem  thus  presented  is  im- 
perative for  our  present  and  future  well-being;  and 

WHEREAS,  There  is  a  widespread  desire  among  the  citizens  of  the 
State  of  New  York  to  assist  the  constituted  officials,  National 
as  well  as  State,  in  their  efforts  to  increase  the  productivity 
of  our  farming  lands ;  and 

WHEREAS,  A  more  serious  cause  of  the  diminishing  supply,  of  food- 
stuffs in  proportion  to  the  increasing  demand  is  the  general 
lack  of  interest  in  agricultural  pursuits  and  the  scarcity  of 
farm  labor;  and 


WHEREAS,  Desirable  immigration  in  the  persons  of  thrifty  agricul- 
turalists would  be  a  blessing  to  the  State  in  helping  to  develop 
and  increase  its  agricultural  output,  and  it  is  equally  as  de- 
sirable to  encourage  a  movement  of  our  own  people  from  our 
cities  and  larger  towns  back  to  the  farm;  and 

WHEREAS,  There  are  in  this  State  available  for  more  intense  cultiva- 
tion, hundreds  of  thousands  of  acres  of  fertile  land  obtainable 
at  lower  rates  than  equally  as  good  land  in  States  farther 
West;  lands  which  are  near  settled  communities  with  the  ad- 
vantages of  easily  available  church,  school  and  market  facilities, 
and  are  conveniences  which  tend  to  make  country  life  more 
attractive;  therefore  be  it 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  sense  of  this  Association  that  some  definite 
plan  of  action  should  be  developed,  whereby  the  existing  facili- 
ties for  bringing  the  people  to  the  land  and  the  land  to  the 
people  may  be  utilized  in  the  most  effective  manner,  and  every 
method,  by  legislation  or  administrative  order,  tending  to  that 
end,  assisting  the  farmer  to  a  knowledge  and  practice  of  the 
methods  best  calculated  to  improve  and  conserve  the  soil  and 
to  market  his  products,  has  our  cordial  approval  and  will  re- 
ceive our  earnest  co-operation. 
(A  motion  to  adopt  the  foregoing  resolution  was  unanimously 

carried,  and  with  great  enthusiasm). 

Resolved,  That  by  a  rising  vote  this  assemblage  recognize  the  cour- 
tesy of  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  in  appearing  at  this  con- 
ference, and  give  to  him  our  hearty  thanks  for  that  interest 
in  New  York  State  farming  which  he  has  repeatedly  in  the 
past  expressed  in  many  helpful  ways;  and  that  we  also  tender 
our  thanks  to  Mr.  Secretary  Cable,  of  the  Department  of 
Commerce  and  Labor,  for  his  presence  at  this  conference. 
(A  motion  to  adopt  the  foregoing  resolution  was  unanimously 

carried). 

BY  THE  CHAIRMAN  : 

"We  have  with  us  a  gentleman  from  Washington  who  knows 
all  about  the  soil  and  will  say  a  few  words  to  us  on  this  subject; 
and  I  am  sure  he  will  be  interesting.  Prof.  Milton  Whitney,  Chief 
of  the  Bureau  of  Soils." 

(Applause). 

PROF.   MILTON  WHITNEY,   Chief  of   Bureau   of   Soils,   Washington, 
D.  C.,  said : 

30 


"There  is  very  little  for  me  to  say,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  after 
the  able  addresses  that  have  been  made,  except  perhaps  to  add  em- 
phasis to  one  feature  of  the  address  of  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture; 
namely,  that  the  soils  of  New  York  are  as  well  fitted  for  occupation 
for  intensive  farming  under  modern  intensive  methods  as  they  were 
for  general  agricultude  under  the  pioneer  methods  of  the  past. 

"It  has  taken  four  centuries  to  settle  this  country.  The  settle- 
ment has  been  accomplished  in  the  past  decade.  All  our  lands  vir- 
tually are  now  under  agricultural  occupation.  The  crop  yields  have 
been  phenomenally  large;  prices  have  been  phenomenally  high.  We 
have  settled  the  country;  settled  the  country  in  four  centuries  as 
much  as  all  of  Europe.  We  have  passed  one  era  of  pioneer  agricul- 
ture; we  are  entering  on  a  new  era  of  intensive  agriculture,  with 
more  suitable  conditions  than  have  been  possible  in  the  past.  The 
State  of  New  York  led  in  the  pioneer  movement  in  agriculture  in  this 
country,  with  Virginia  and  the  other  Eastern  States ;  it  has  been  a 
severe  tax  to  all  of  those  Eastern  States,  the  settling  of  the  country. 
With  the  West  now  settled  and  the  surplus  going  into  Canada  and 
into  the  Southern  States,  at  the  beginning  of  a  new,  era  of  intensive 
agriculture  that  is  before  us]  New  York,  with  its  magnificent  mar- 
kets, should  certainly  take  the  lead.  And  I  can  assure  you,  gentle- 
men, from  the  investigations  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  from 
the  best  knowledge  that  science  has  been  able  to  bring  to  bear  upon 
the  subject,  that  the  soils  of  New  York,  although  sadly  abused  in 
many  ways,  as  is  common  with  the  soils  of  the  Eastern  States,  is 
in  as  good  condition  now  for  this  new  era  of  intensive  agriculture 
as  it  was  when  it  was  first  settled  for  the  pioneer  methods  that  to-day 
have  gone." 

MR.  W.  H.  SWITZER,  President  of  the  Salisbury  Steel  &  Iron  Com- 
pany, of  Utica,  N.  Y.,  said: 

"Mr  Chairman  and  gentlemen:  I  appreciate  the  honor  which 
is  conferred  in  asking  me  to  make  a  few  remarks,  which  was  entirely 
unexpected  on  my  part  until  this  morning.  There  is  no  question 
as  to  the  importance  of  this  gathering,  and  the  discussion  of  ways 
and  means  for  greater  development  of  the  farm  lands  of  the  State 
of  New  York.  Neither  is  there  any  question  as  to  the  result  of 
crop  cultivation,  in  reclaiming  the  wild  or  so-called  abandoned  lands  of 
New  York  State,  provided  scientific  methods  of  cultivation  are  adopted. 
In  my  own  experience,  and  that  is  why  I  am  called  to  speak  to  you 
this  afternoon,  I  have  learned  much  of  great  value  in  reclaiming 
several  hundred  acres  of  waste  or  abandoned  land  in  Herkimer 

31 


County,  located  in  the  South  foot-hills  of  the  Adirondack  section 
of  the  State.  Several  years  ago  our  company  acquired  by  purchase 
two  thousand  acres,  containing  several  acres  of  so-called  farm  land 
that  had  not  been  worked  for  agricultural  purposes  except  in  a  hap- 
hazard way  for  several  years  because  it  was  unprofitable  for  farming 
purposes.  Forty,  50,  or  60  years  ago  this  land  was  the  pioneer 
dairying  section  of  New  York.  The  first  cheese  factory  built  in  the 
State  of  New  York,  as  I  understand,  was  in  Herkimer  County,  in 
this  immediate  vicinity;  and  the  largest  dairying  herds  per  square 
mile  fifty,  seventy-five  or  eighty  years  ago  were  grazing  on  this  very 
land  that  I  refer  to  now.  As  our  industries  developed  and  trans- 
portation was  developed,  connecting  us  with  the  New  York  Central 
Lines,  the  purchase  of  farm  foods  and  dairy  products  became  a  serious 
problem,  our  base  of  operations  being  several  miles  from  a  purchas- 
ing market.  Therefore,  of  necessity,  to  supply  this  demand  I  de- 
termined five  years  ago  in  a  measure  to  provide  the  necessaries  of 
life  in  the  way  of  farm,  food  and  dairy  products  for  our  operatives, 
and  made  an  effort  to  reclaim  the  abandoned  lands  which  had  grown 
over  with  a  wild  growth  of  weeds  and  brush.  There  having  been  no 
'stock  kept  in  the  barn  we  were  without  fertilizer  available.  I  purchased 
a  carload  of  so-called  commercial  fertilizer,  engaged  the  services  of 
a  local  farmer,  and  began  to  break  up  this  soil.  Our  first  year's 
experience  was  far  from  satisfactory.  A  thirty-acre  field  produced 
less  than  20  bushels  per  acre ;  a  five-acre  field  of  potatoes  less  than 
fifty  bushels  per  acre;  a  ten-acre  field  of  silo  corn,  less  than  ten 
tons  to  the  acre;  a  five-acre  field  of  yellow  corn  failed  to  materialize 
and  was  cut  and  put  in  with  the  silo.  It  was  then  that  we  realized 
the  importance  of  personally  taking  up  these  matters  of  land  culti- 
vation. I  at  once  procured  State  and  Government  bulletins  on  special 
crop  cultivation,  subscribed  to  several  agricultural  papers,  and  decided 
to  stock  the  farm  with  live  stock  to  the  capacity  of  the  barn  build- 
ings available.  I  purchased  about  100  head  of  horses,  cows,  sheep 
and  hogs,  in  order  to  procure  an  abundance  of  barn-yard  manure, 
purchasing  hay  and  grain  to  carry  this  stock  through  the  first  winter. 
I  looked  up  commercial  fertilizers,  nitrate  of  soda,  potash,  etc.,  all 
of  which  we  purchased  in  carload  lots,  and  mixed  them  into  our 
own,  and  judiciously  and  freely  spread  this  mixture  on  the  soil,  with 
the  barn-yard  fertilizer  that  had  accumulated  during  the  winter.  Mark 
the  increase  in  the  yield  per  acre!  Oats,  56  bushels  per  acre,  as 
against  less  than  20.  Potatoes  over  200  bushels  to  the  acre;  25  to 
30  tons  of  silo.  Corn,  46  bushels  of  ear  corn  to  the  acre;  50  tons, 

32 


of  sugar  beets  to  the  acre,  and  three  tons  of  hay  per  acre  from  three 
year  seeding ;  three  tons  per  acre  from  old  meadow,  the  sod  of  which 
had  not  been  turned   for  years.     After  five  years'  labor,  we  have 
over  three  hundred  acres  of  this  land  under  cultivation,  the  result 
of  which  has  enabled  us  to  furnish  our  operatives  with  an  abundance 
of  farm  food,  dairy  products,  including  fresh  and  salt  meats  which 
were  prepared  on  the  farm ;  and  we  feel  we  have  in  a  measure  solved 
the   question   of  land   reclamation   in   this   particular   section,   which 
to-day  we  by  no  means  consider  as  a  satisfactory  result,  having  had 
previously  no  experience  in  farm  life,  always  having  lived  in  the  city 
and  led  a   strenuous   life   as  a   manufacturer  and  business   man.     I 
do  not  consider  we  have  achieved  the  highest  success;  therefore  I 
desire  to  emphasize  the  suggestion  that  has  been  made — that  the  State 
or  Federal  Government  should  establish  in  every  agricultural  county 
a  model  farm  under  expert  supervision,  for  purposes  of  demonstrating 
the   most    modern   scientific   methods    of    farming,   where   the    local 
farmer  can,  by  personal  observation,  get  reliable  in  formation,  on  the 
scientific  principles  of  progressive  farming,  in  order  to  insure  greater 
yields  per  acre  of  the  crops  adapted  to  the  soil  and  climatic  condi- 
tions.    Right  here,  my  friends,  I  want  to  say  from  my  own  personal 
observation  and  experience,  with  the  experience  of  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment in  the  South  in  raising  the  corn  and  increasing  the  growth 
of  the  food  products,  or  meats,  etc.,  my  judgment  is  that  the  proper 
solution  of  the  problem  you  have  under  discussion  to-day  is  that  you 
must  have  the  farmer  with  you  and  you  must  show  him  how  to  do 
it.     Agricultural  colleges  are  fine.     I  admire  the  interest  the  com- 
mercial people  have  taken.     I  myself  visited  Cornell,  trying  to  get 
some  data  and  information — I  was  unable  to  take  a  course,  and  would 
not  care  to  send  my  son  there.     Very  few  of  the  sons  of  Northern 
New  York  farmers  are  located  there.    The  young  men  there  are  all 
right   for   future   generations.     What  we  want   are   farmers   to  get 
the  crops  out  of  the  soil  this  year,  1910.     The  price  of  living  does 
not  go  down  on  what  is  to  come  a  year  from  now.     Had  such  a 
farm  been  established  in  Herkimer  County  five  years  ago  we  would 
have  gained  four  years'  time  in  arriving  at  the  results  achieved  in 
our  personal  experience.     It  would  be  far  better  if  the  farmer  could 
see   for  himself  the  results  of   soil   cultivation   and  crop  harvesting, 
rather  than  depend  upon  the  literature  and  discussions  of  these  vital 
questions.      The   average   farmer,   as   the  old    saying   goes,   is    from 
Missouri,  and  he  must  be  shown  to  impress  upon  his  mind  the  great 
importance   of   the   greatest   yield   per   acre.      From   my   experience 

33 


of  the  last  five  years,  it  is  not  more  acres  to  be  farmed,  but  a  greater 
yield  per  acre,  and  in  my  judgment  this  cannot  be  done  in  a  more 
effective  way  than  to  establish  farms  that  show  the  best  results  in 
crop  yields. 

"In  referring  to  the  admirable  report  of  Commissioner  Pearson 
for  1909,  it  is  surprising  to  note  the  great  discrepancies  that  exist 
in  the  various  crop  yields  in  counties  of  New  York  State,  but  I  think 
you  will  agree  with  me  that  this  is  largely  due  to  the  lack  of  knowledge 
of  scientific  methods  of  soil  cultivation  and  crop  harvesting,  except 
in  so  far  as  soil  and  climatic  conditions  prevail.  In  Essex  and 
Hamilton  Counties,  as  in  Monroe,  bordering  on  Herkimer,  they  had 
150  to  200  thousand  bushels  of  potatoes  to  the  square  mile,  and 
Herkimer  County  had  only  fifty.  There  is  three  times  the  difference. 
The  idea  is  to  demonstrate,  and  show  how  the  crop  increase  can 
be  brought  per  acre.  In  our  earlier  experience  we  were  told  that 
Holsteins  were  the  best.  We  accordingly  gave  instructions  that  a 
small  herd  be  purchased,  by  reason  of  the  short  pasturage  available. 
I  do  not  want  to  go  on  record  as  not  knowing  the  difference  between 
a  horse  and  mule,  but  all  cows  looked  alike  to  me.  I  knew  there 
were  different  grades  and  classes,  and  that  there  was  a  digerence 
between  a  Holstein  and*  a  Jersey,  but  I  could  not  have  told  the 
difference.  The  information  I  got  was  that  the  Holstein  was  what 
we  wanted.  It  was  a  splendid  cow  under  favorable  pasturage  con- 
ditions. I  have  learned  that  she  is  a  magnificent  cow.  if  she  is  in 
fodder  up  to  her  knees.  We  were  then  advised  to  try  the  Jersey. 
Conditions  were  altogether  too  severe  in  the  winter  to  carry  the 
Jersey  through  profitably.  I  saw  a  herd  of  fine  Swiss  cattle.  I 
resolved  to  have  stock  suitable  for  beef  consumption  after  the  dairy- 
ing properties  were  exhausted.  The  cattle  buyer  does  not  find  any 
cattle  for  sale  there.  We  found  this  Brown  Swiss  good  for  this, 
giving  a  good  yield  of  milk  rich  in  butter  fat.  Had  we  been  able 
to  acquire  this  information  at  first  hand,  gentlemen,  the  saving  of 
time,  expense  and  experience  would  have  been  had,  not  only  in  the 
solution  of  our  cattle  question,  but  of  swine,  sheep  and  poultry.  We 
ought  to  have  it  from  the  State  of  New  York  officials.  And  I  want 
to  say  to  you  gentlemen  that  you  can  get  together  and  form  an 
organization — co-operation  is  magnificent — but  you  have  got  to  have 
the  farmer  with  you  and  show  him  how,  if  you  want  to  get  the 
crops  out  of  the  soil  and  increase  the  yield  per  acre.  Fortunately,  we 
have  made  some  progress.  And  I  hope  great  permanent  good  may 
come  out  of  this  meeting  to-day  for  the  benefit  of  all  mankind." 

34 


THE;  COMMITTEE  ON  PERMANENT  ORGANIZATION,  through  its  Chair- 
man, Hon.  John  W.  Dwight,  reported  submitting  the  following 
list  of  seventeen  names  for  a  Committee  on  Permanent  Or- 
ganization, and  the  gentlemen  named  were  unanimously  elected 
members  of  such  Committee;  namely, 
W.  C.  Brown,  President,  New  York  Central  Lines. 

E.  G.  Miner,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

Geo.   A.    Frisbie,   President,   Chamber  of  Commerce,  Utica,  N.  Y. 

R.  A.  Pearson,  Commissioner  of  Agriculture,  of  the  State  of  New  York. 

F.  M.  Godfrey,  Master  of  New  York  State  Grange,  Olean,  N.  Y. 

W.  C.  Barry,  President  Western  New  York  Horticultural  Society,  Roches- 
ter, N.  Y. 

F.  D.  Underwood,  President,  Erie  Railroad  Company. 

Welding  Ring,   President   New  York  Produce  Exchange,  New  York. 

George  W.  Thayer,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

Chas.  W.  Larmon,  State  Labor  Department,  Albany,  N.  Y. 

Wm.  McCarroll,  President,  New  York  Board  of  Trade  and  Transporta- 
tion. 

W.  W.  Cocks,  Member  of  Congress  from  Long  Island. 

W.  T.  Noonan,  President,  Buffalo,  Rochester  &  Pittsburg  Railroad  Com- 
pany. 

E.    B.   Thomas,   President,   Lehigh  Valley  Railroad  Company. 

Ralph  Peters,  President,  Long  Island  Railroad  Company. 

W.  H.  Truesdale,  President,  Delaware,  Lackawa-nna  &  Western  Railroad 
Company. 

John  W.  Dwight,  Member  of  Congress  from  Thirteenth  District  of  New 
York. 

The  foregoing  Committee  to  be  subject  to  the  call  of  Mr.  W.  C. 
Brown. 

HON.  JOHN  W.  DWIGHT: 

"The  question  of  possibly  some  legislation  from  the  Department 
of  Agriculture,  or  the  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  should 
be  taken  up  briefly.  I  should  like  to  hear  from  Mr.  Larmon,  of  that 
Department,  as  to  bills  pending,  for  a  few  moments." 

MR.  CHARLES  W.  LARMON,  Chief  of  Office  of  Farm  Labor,  State  of 

New  York,  said: 

"Mr.  Chairman,  ladies  and  gentlemen:  I  regret  very  much  that 
the  representative  of  the  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor  failed 
to  go  a  little  deeper  into  the  great  importance  of  the  immigrant  in 
this  movement  for  conserving  soil  fertility  and  producing  greater 
crops  in  the  State  of  New  York.  When  we  consider  the  vast  im- 

35 


portance  that  the  immigrant  can  be  to  the  agriculture  of  the  State 
it  seems  to  me  that  it  is  one  of  the  great  questions  that  ought  to 
be  considered.  And  that  statesmen  who  have  been  charged  with  the 
affairs  of  the  State  for  years  should  not  know  more  of  this  question 
is  astonishing.  A  bill  was  introduced  two  years  ago  to  provide  for 
the  distribution,  the  protection,  and  general  assimmilation  and  utili- 
zation of  the  immigrant  in  New  York  State.  I  talked  with  the 
President  pro  tern  of  the  Senate,  who  had  been  a  Senator  for  twenty 
years.  He  said:  'I  must  confess,  Mr.  Larmon,  that  I  know  nothing 
whatever  of  this  question.'  The  Chairman  of  the  Finance  Committee 
made  practically  the  same  remark.  And  yet  when  we  figure  up  the 
number  of  people  who  come  to  our  shores  in  five  years  and  take 
up  their  residence  for  the  time  being  in  the  State  of  New  York  it 
ceases  to  be  a  wonder.  Now,  the  number  that  came  here  in  five 
years  was  4,596,000.  We  expect  a  million  this  year;  last  year  it 
was  782,000;  the  year  before  752,000.  They  were  lean  years,  the 
time  of  depression.  The  one  before  that  it  was  1,100,000,  and  so 
on  down  to  a  million,  812,000  and  857,000  in  different  years.  Those 
people  in  their  home  countries  were  skilled  farmers  to  the  extent 
of  85  or  90  per  cent.  They  had  learned  the  necessity  of  soil  con- 
.  servation  and  intensive  farming;  and  yet,  they  come  here  and  are 
allowed  to  congregate  in  this  city  and  become  the  prey  of  the  libertine. 
They  do  not  understand  our  ideals,  the  ideals  of  American  institu- 
tions, and  they  are  segregated  here  and  their  value  largely  is  lost. 
You  see  the  agriculturist  of  the  old  country  working  in  the  sweat- 
shop ;  you  see  his  family  being  raised  in  one  of  the  200,000  dark 
rooms  that  have  no  ventilation,  in  this  city.  Think  of  the  environ- 
ment for  the  American  citizen.  It  is  a  question  that  ought  to  sink 
home  in  the  very  vitals  of  everyone  interested  in  the  future  of  this 
country.  The  Committee  on  Agriculture  have  learned  that  the  amount 
of  money  carried  out,  or  sent  out,  by  immigrants  was  $275,000,000, 
besides  the  amount  that  was  carried  out  by  some  700,000  in  their 
pockets.  That  sum,  if  the  work  amongst  the  immigrants  was  properly 
directed,  would,  to  the  extent  of  50  per  cent.,  be  invested  in  this 
country.  If  the  proper  work  was  developed,  50  per  cent,  of  those 
segregated  in  New  York  City  and  other  cities  would  remove  to  the 
country.  Our  lands  are  cheap  in  comparison  to  the  lands  in  other 
sections  of  this  country.  The  immigrant  cannot  believe  the  price  at 
which  he  can  purchase  lands  in  this  State.  It  is  as  cheap  as  in 
his  native  country,  in  Hungary  or  in  Germany.  In  connection  with . 
this  work  I  have  been  following  for  four  or  five  years  in  the  Depart- 


ment  of  Agriculture,  we  have  sent  out  several  thousand  farm  hands 
in  each  year.  They  are  migratory  birds.  There  is  no  society  for 
them  out  in  the  country,  nobody  to  speak  their  language.  They  drift 
back  to  the  cities.  If  they  are  very  good  and  stay  a  while,  the  rail- 
road companies  catch  on  to  them;  they  are  the  kind  they  want  for 
train-men.  They  are  responsible  as  much  as  anything  for  depleting 
the  rural  population  of  its  thrifty  young  man,  and  it  is  up  to  them 
now  to  help  to  solve  this  question  (laughter);  but  I  guess  they  are 
going  to  do  it,  by  what  President  Brown  and  the  others  say.  The 
Commission  of  Immigration  .appointed  by  the  Governor  reported  al- 
most unanimously  a  bill  introduced  by  Assemblyman  Parker,  of  Wash- 
ington County,  as  they  believed  it  would  assist  greatly  in  the  distri- 
bution of  immigration,  and  not  only  that,  but  in  their  protection  and 
education.  It  was  considered  seriously  as  to  whether  this  could  be 
placed  in  another  department,  but  it  was  believed  by  the  Commission 
that  it  would  only  disorganize  and  hamper  the  work,  both  of  that 
department  and  the  Commission.  (Mr.  Larmon  here  read  the  pur- 
poses of  the  bill  referred  to).  That  was  the  object  of  the  bill  in 
the  main.  It  covers  several  features  for  the  protection,  education 
and  distribution  of  the  immigrant  in  other  ways. 

"This  cost  of  living,  of  the  class  of  people  of  whom  I  am  speak- 
ing, is  appalling.  The  cheapening  of  the  conditions  of  life  in  any 
way  entail  upon  the  father  of  a  family  a  poorer  habitation,  less  whole- 
some food ;  and  that  simply  leads  to  degeneracy,  want,  privation,  crime 
and  insanity.  The  records  show  an  increase  of  35  per  cent,  in  cases 
of  insanity  and  these  have  increased  for  years.  Our  expenses  for 
caring  for  the  insane  have  been  one  million  dollars  in  the  last  two 
years;  in  twenty  years  that  has  risen  to  more  than  seven  millions. 
The  population  of  the  State  has  grown  30  per  cent.,  and  the  care 
of  the  insane  has  increased  700  per  cent.  Where  is  it  going  to  end? 
Isn't  it  up  to  the  State,  and  the  great  interests  of  the  State  to  get  up 
and  do  something? 

"This  question  of  forming  a  central  organization  around  which 
all  other  organizations  can  center  and  co-operate,  is  afforded  by  that 
measure,  and  I  firmly  believe  that  it  ought  to  pass.  I  do  not  know 
of  anything  further  that  I  can  say  on  the  subejct  without  taking  too 
much  time.  I  thank  you  for  your  attention." 

HON.  JOHN  W.  DWIGHT: 

"If  Congressman  Bennet  of  New  York  would  tell  us  something 
about  immigration,  he  is  well  acquainted  with  that  subject." 

!•!•''!!  37 


HON.  WM.  S.  BENNET,  Member  of  Congress  from  New  York  City, 
said: 

"Immigration,  so  far  as  this  meeting  is  concerned,  I  presume  is 
very  largely  confined  to  the  question  of  how  many  immigrants  are 
going  on  the  farms.  Twenty-one  per  cent,  of  the  immigrants  who 
come  to  us  from  foreign  lands  go  to  the  farms ;  but  twenty-six  of 
their  children  go  on  the  farms.  In  other  words,  there  is  an  increase 
of  from  one-fifth  of  the  immigrants  on  the  farms  to  one-fourth  of 
the  immigrants'  children. 

"I  was  struck  by  one  of  the  statements  a  gentleman  made  here 
—that  we  could  not  restore  the  fertility  of  the  land  in  New  York 
State.  Possibly,  he  did  not  mean  it  in  such  a  broad  way,  because 
in  Europe  they  are  reaping  to-day  crops  which  support  a  much  larger 
population  per  acre,  per  mile,  from  the  lands  which  fed  Caesar's 
Legions.  I  have  no  doubt  all  of  you  have  read  the  Bible — most  of 
you  have — and  will  recall  the  fields  of  Jezreel  which  were  mentioned 
as  field,  of  production,  and  you  will  be  pleased  to  know  that  these 
fields  are  waving  wheat  fields  to-day,  after  these  thousands  of  years. 

"There  is  no  reason  at  all  why  the  lands  of  New  York  State 
should  not  be  made  productive.  We  are  just  at  the  beginning,  so 
far  as  agriculture  is  concerned.  Over  in  Asia  Minor  they  are  utilizing 
again  land  which  has  been  laying  fallow  over  two  thousand  years, 
and  utilizing  it — it  will  be  interesting  to  know — because  with  Ameri- 
can machinery  and  modern  methods  they  can  utilize  it  with  greater 
profit  than  years  ago.  There  is  another  thing:  Many  people  say 
what  is  the  use  of  trying  to  do  anything  alongside  of  the  irrigated 
land  of  the  West.  Only  four  per  cent,  of  the  land  of  this  country 
is  subject  to  irrigation;  forty  per  cent,  is  agricultural  land.  There- 
fore thirty-six  per  cent,  must  be  cultivated  by  some  kind  of  dry  farm- 
ing, as  distinct  from  irrigation,  these  being  the  two  somewhat  tech- 
nical terms.  So,  we  have  just  as  good  a  right  to  succeed  on  the 
farms  of  New  York  State  as  have  the  farmers  on  thirty-six  of  the 
forty  per  cent,  of  the  area  of  this  country  that  can  be  utilized  for 
agricultural  purposes.  Now,  it  is  possibly  rather  strange  for  a  man 
whose  business  is  confined  entirely  to  Manhattan  Island  to  be  talking 
of  agricultural  subjects.  It  is  much  more  important  to  those  of  us 
who  live  in  the  city  than  to  those  who  live  on  the  farm.  The  man 
who  lives  on  the  farm  gets  a  bare  living  at  least,  and  is  sure  of  it. 
His  conditions  are  not  as  hard  as  the  city  man's.  What  does  it  mean 
to  us,  the  decadence  of  the  farms?  It  means  as  this  is  a  commercial 

38 


center  the  soil  brought  customers,  those  who  take  the  product  of 
our  business;  it  means,  consequently,  that  as  products  decrease  in 
bulk  prices  naturally  rise;  and  we  lose  the  customer  for  our  industry 
on  the  one  hand,  while  paying  higher  prices  for  his  product  on  the 
other.  We  lose  both  ways,  as  far  as  the  farmer  is  concerned.  We 
cannot  blame  the  farmer  for  high  prices.  Magazines  talk  about  the 
high  production  in  Germany.  The  reason  is  that  she  has  the  labor  to 
produce  it  there.  When  I  was  in  Poland  in  1907  and  in  Germany 
I  found  they  were  bringing  north  from  Italy  to  Germany  90,000 
Italians  a  year  to  harvest  their  crops.  They  told  me — I  do  not  vouch 
for  the  figures — they  were  bringing  250,000  people  from  Poland  to 
harvest  their  crop.  I  do  know  that  the  farmers  of  Poland  were 
thinking  of  bringing  Chinese  coolies  across  the  trans-Siberian  rail- 
roads to  harvest  the  crops  in  Poland.  Other  people  have  their 
troubles  just  as  we  have.  The  farmer  of  the  West  who  produces 
half  as  much  as  the  farmer  of  Germany  is  doing  it  as  best  he  can 
on  an  economical  basis.  The  more  men  he  has  the  deeper  he  can 
plow  and  the  better  he  can  cultivate.  And  with  the  labor  he  has, 
agricultural  experts  will  tell  you  that  he  is  doing  as  well  as  the 
farmers  in  Germany.  So,  don't  blame  the  farmer.  Let  us  do  some- 
thing for  the  man  living  on  the  farm.  The  telephone  has  done  much  ; 
also  rural  free  delivery.  Let  us  give  him  a  parcels  post  on  strictly 
rural  routes.  (Applause).  And  when  we  Congressmen  from  New 
York  City  districts  vote  for  increased  appropriations  for  agriculture 
do. not  make  fun  of  us.  For  five  years  in  Congress  I  have  voted 
for  the  maximum  that  the  Secretary  has  asked  for  any  year  and 
the  Committee  has  reported.  I  am  going  to  do  it  for  the  remaining 
year  of  my  term,  no  matter  what  you  think  about  it.  That  old 
gentleman  who  sat  down  there,  in  his  twelve  years  of  service  to  this 
country  has  done  more  good  than  most  generals  and  admirals  have 
done,  and  done  more  good  in  his  department  than  the  head  of  any 
other  department  of  the  Government.  I  am  glad  that  he  got  the 
recognition,  the  attention  and  the  applause,  and  the  resolutions  that 
he  did  here,  because  he  deserves,  that  old  Scotch  gentleman  (cries 
of  'American,  American!')  deserves  everything  American  people  can 
give  him.  (Applause).  His  department  has  kept  down  the  cost  of 
living.  He  is  at  the  head  of  scientific  research  to-day,  bringing  on 
to  our  farms  new  food  crops,  and  by  the  tens  and  dozens  intro- 
ducing every  year  new  food  crops ;  and  not  only  new  but  better  kinds 
of  the  crops  we  are  familiar  with.  The  whole  crop  of  the  West 
has  been  benefitted  and  increased  by  the  better  seed  that  the  Depart- 


ment  of  Agriculture  has  produced  there,  as  has  the  cotton  crop  of 
the  South  as  well. 

"I  will  not  keep  you  further  on  this  line.  I  am  glad  that  this 
movement  has  started,  and  started  in  the  way  it  has — with  men  of 
serious  purposes — big  business  men  that  can  afford  to  come  out  in 
the  open  and  say  '  We  are  for  this;  we  want  more  people  on  the 
farms ;  more  raised ;"  not  afraid  to  face  the  facts ;  who  .can  hang 
up  a  map  like  that  which  shows  a  situation  which  if  it  is  not  changed 
means  in  this  country  riot,  bloodshed,  turmoil,  and  everything  that 
goes  with  it,  before  three  years  are  past;  and  all  of  that  we  may 
come  to  see,  because  the  moment  we  commence  to  import  breadstuff's 
into  the  United  States  we  have  to  change  the  method  of  our  living. 
All  those  present  know  what  that  means,  to  change  the  standard 
of  living. 

"Mr.  Brown  says  they  have  had  to  raise  the  wages  one  hundred 
millions  on  the  railroads.  When  it  gets  so  that  we  cannot  raise  these 
wages,  and  start  to  reduce  them  fifty  millions  a  year,  we  ought  to 
tremble  to  think  what  the  consequences  will  be.  This  is  no  light 
subject.  This  is  a  serious  gathering,  and  may  mark  an  epoch  in  the 
history  not  only  of  this  State  but  of  this  Nation." 

(Applause). 

BY  THE  CHAIRMAN  : 

"I  think  we  have  heard  much  to-day  that  will  be  of  very  great 
benefit  to  us  in  the  future.  I  want  to  thank  you  all  for  your  atten- 
dance, and  those  who  have  remained  for  their  courtesy  in  waiting 
and  listening  to  these  admirable  addresses.  I  thank  you  on  behalf 
of  the  New  York  Produce  Exchange  for  the  favor  of  your  com- 
pany to-day." 


40 


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